I READ the letter from Lilian Maddox ("Bin row in upmarket square", November 25) with some astonishment. I have lived in Brunswick Square for nearly 20 years and can assure you that I am well versed in the troubles we have had with our bins.

Ms Maddox states that "the bin is the enemy of mess", but this only holds true if the bin is not messy in and of itself. These bins are by their very nature messy. Aside from the fact that they are an eyesore that is a monstrous carbuncle on our beautiful square, but myself and my fellow wildlife watchers have noted that the vermin the bin attract have resulted in a 70 per cent reduction in the population of voles, shrews and natterjack toads that were an enduring presence in the square until the blight of the bins and the beasts they attract.

Environmental issues aside, the idea that the council could land a brutalist bin in one of the best-kept Georgian squares in the country and not expect a loud protest from the residents is laughable. If we must have large bins, they should be designed in keeping with their location. Is it not beyond the council to employ a contemporary designer to give these bins the stature and crenellations that would allow them to blend in to the square?

Personally, I would remove all the bins in line with the law of the land, namely that a person's rubbish is their own until it is handed over to the state in the form of a bin collection. This, perhaps accompanied by nightly patrols to catch litterers red-handed, would go a long way towards making Brunswick Square the tranquil and tidy place it once was.

Andy Ham

Brunswick Square