WHY is it that, when a headline appears in The Argus that starts with the words "Bin strike looming", we know immediately that it will be all about Brighton's refuse collection service and not those in either West or East Sussex?

What is so different in the city, as opposed to its neighbouring counties, that the workforce has withdrawn its labour, or threatened to do so, on so many occasions over the last 30 years?

Is it the fault of a militant union or a perpetually unhappy workforce, or Cityclean, the council department responsible for the collection service, or Veolia, the company that employs the bin men and women?

As the services in West and East Sussex don't have anything like the problems that plague Brighton, have any of those involved in this never-ending saga ever bothered to pop over the city's borders and tried to find out how its neighbours manage to offer good services to its tax payers while the city continues to lurch from crisis to crisis when it comes to the collection and disposal of its residents' waste?

Or will Brighton to continue to offer a rubbish rubbish service as far into the future as anyone can see?

Eric Waters

Lancing