The letter from Heather Robinson (Dorset Echo 16th February) regarding the unabated disgrace of litter throughout Dorset (and the rest of the UK for that matter) is very timely and welcome, and it is to be hoped that the new initiative of Litter Free Dorset, coupled with the nation-wide campaign of "Clean for the Queen", will finally jolt everyone out of the continuing torpor and myopia which seems to surround this issue.

The efforts of volunteer groups to clean up the coast and urban areas are to be hugely commended, but it goes much further than that.

There needs to be a concerted onslaught of publicity and education, so that the public feel empowered to take on the antisocial attitudes and activities of the minority, and create a zero tolerance approach towards littering of any sort.

However, this has to be backed up by firm action and support from local authorities and businesses which have it in their power to do do far more than individuals.

I wrote to this paper just a few months ago about the nonsense of the roadside verges into Dorchester being cut at a time when the grass did not need to be cut, and, despite the mild winter, was unlikely to do so until the genuine arrival of Spring.

The only obvious result of this totally unnecessary (but presumably costly) activity was to churn up and shred the volume of litter which had at least been partially hidden until then.

It simply requires the application of a little commonsense and joined-up thinking, the lack of which I witnessed again this morning when I saw a large number of channels dug in the verge along the road leading from Lewell to West Knighton, presumably for drainage purposes, but on a road which never suffers any flooding problems despite the continuing travails of the nearby West Stafford bypass!

Likewise, when I recently mentioned to one of the floor managers in Tesco Dorchester that there was a huge amount of litter in the greenery adjacent to their main entrance, after giving me a look of blank surprise, and making clear he had not heard of the "Clean for the Queen" campaign, he assured me he would have a word with their cleaner.

A couple of days later there was no evidence that anything had been done.

Finally, there is the part the Echo could play by throwing itself behind a county-wide campaign to get everything cleaned up not only for the Queen, but also for the arrival of the holiday season.

Your paper has an enviable record of supporting local causes, and after Weymouth has received accolades as one of the very best beaches in the country (one of the criteria being lack of litter), wouldn't it be wonderful if Dorset as a whole could promote itself a a "litter free" county, thereby not only achieving valuable publicity for itself, but giving a lead to the rest of the country?

Chris Lousley West Stafford