IT gives me no pleasure to say that my predictions about the mess and the health hazard which would be caused by the fortnightly bin collections being introduced in Leominster have entirely come true.

The piles of bin bags spilling their contents onto the pavement (mostly food waste pulled out by cats and dogs) has turned a quaint market town with appealing shops and cafes into an absolute eyesore which is not going to attract any tourists, on which so many businesses depend.

In addition, we residents completely resent paying huge amounts of council tax for insufficient bin collections and no action taken against the perpetrators of this behaviour.

Herefordshire Council continues to ignore its duty to take action against this filth and hazard except to send out mild-mannered letters asking residents not to put their rubbish out early, which are completely ignored.

Many complaints to the council are met with ‘Yes, we’re monitoring the situation’. Well, stop monitoring and start prosecuting.

We as taxpayers demand it. We want this stopped and we don’t want to wait any longer for you to do something about it.

ELIZABETH PORTMAN-LEWIS Etnam Street, Leominster