REGARDING your story headlined '£1million Blitz On Rubbish' (LET, May 21), it sounds as if Blackburn with Darwen Council is hoping to create a clean environment throughout the town and is prepared to put our money where its mouth is.

Perhaps they should, in the first instance, arrange to properly collect the rubbish from their paid-up customers.

As a company, we pay more than £25,000 a year in business rates. On top of this, we must also pay a further £655.03 to have our three bins emptied -- supposedly once per week -- and this, note, must be paid a year in advance.

Over the last three weeks, our collection day changed from Thursday to Monday. Three weeks ago our waste was collected on Thursday, two weeks ago on a Friday and last week, following seven telephone calls, it was collected this Tuesday.

Following my complaint, I was visited by a member of Blackburn Council's Direct Services Department. I was advised that they were starting a new rota, with collections from town-centre business premises changing to an evening shift from 5pm to 8pm.

Who on earth could think up this incredibly inconvenient time for business users like ourselves who work between 9am and 5.30pm? At 5.30pm, our premises are locked, double locked and the alarms set for the night.

Having two premises in Blackburn, Tyson Lighting on Walpole Street and The Lighting Centre on Darwen Street, we are dependent on the council to clear our waste during business hours. After all, that is over 40 hours a week in which to collect.

I was asked if we could perhaps leave our bins out on a Friday night and bring them in the following Saturday morning, in the case of The Lighting Centre, or the following Monday morning in the case of Tyson Lighting. Does anyone think that the bins would still be there?

It was then pointed out that "consideration was being given to withdrawing the waste collection facility from business premises if they failed to comply." Please note we have already paid 12 months in advance for this facility.

I would, therefore, suggest to the council that, although in favour of keeping the town clean and tidy, it should honour its commitments to an already-paid-for service that it's failing family to deliver on.

JOHN K GIBSON, Financial Director, Tyson Lighting, Walpole Street, Blackburn.