DO you remember last Christmas?

Most, if not all of the streets in Leigh at Christmastime last year were in danger of being swamped with rubbish from

our overflowing bins.

Our rubbish bins were emptied on Tuesday, 19th December, 2000 and then not emptied again until Tuesday 9th January, 2001 - a gap of three full weeks.

I tried unsuccessfully on several occasions to register a complaint to the person responsible at Wigan Council, but to no avail. No-one would admit to being the idiot responsible for the scheduling of refuse collection. Oh no it wasn't me, it was him/her, was all the response I got.

And would you believe it that person was never available for a discussion, or to offer a solution.

What made me even more irritated last year was the fact that at least one area in Wigan - Whelley and New Springs - didn't miss one of their collection days.

How do I know this to be true you might ask? You see my mother lived in New Spring, and my usual day to visit mum to take her

shopping was Thursday, and while I was there I actually saw the bins being emptied on their due days.

Turned chicken

I went so far last year as to threaten to dump the accumulated rubbish of mine and my immediate neighbours on the steps of the Town Hall, but turned chicken, because I knew I would be the one in trouble with the law and not the real people responsible.

All I can say is thank goodness we have a lot of cats and dogs in our area. Fortunately for us they keep the vermin away.

Before we start getting the tired old excuses from the Council and our supposed Councillors that the tips are open, they should bear this in mind.

Not everyone has their own transport to take their rubbish to the tip, and I don't for one minute think anyone carrying bags of rubbish would be allowed on public transport for the journey to Plank Lane.

I also can't imagine any of our local private hire companies letting anyone use their cars for that purpose either.

May I remind those who we voted in as Councillors that the people of Leigh pay Council taxes just the same as those privilleged people in Whelley, so I think that we are entitled not just to ask for but to demand exactly the

same quality of service.

It was with great regret that I also noted the deafening silence of our elected representatives on the subject. I take it that we can rely on them for the same deafening silence and underwhelming response if it happens again, as I am 99.9 per cent sure that it will this Christmastime?

This is a timely reminder to the powers that be in Wigan Council that it is about time you got your act together, and started to plan a schedule that is fair to all the people in the borough, and not just some.

Josephine Durnford,

Cavendish Street,

Leigh