Having read about the RSPB survey on sparrows and the huge drop in their numbers (The Argus, May 3), perhaps one major cause could be the poisonous spraying by councils throughout the country of roadside verges and gutters.

I well remember, as a youngster, watching hordes of these little birds spending a great deal of time on roadside grass verges and gutters.

But in those days, councils employed road sweepers and grass mowing and trimming people.

Nowadays, the quick and easy way is a person driving a small tractor up and down the verges with the cutters going through glass, metal, paper and plastic, none of which is picked up.

This is in tandem with the verge sprayer who, this year, left his mark with huge swathes of poisoned grass - more than I have ever seen before.

-B J Davis, Peacehaven