I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the letter headed "Well done, binmen" (March 18).

How can anybody in their right mind possibly applaud Brighton and Hove's binmen?

Give them any excuse to skip work under the pretence of an industrial dispute and they will take it.

As a result, rubbish piles up in the streets and householders are left playing a guessing game every week, wondering which day the binmen will call. It seems to vary every week.

When they are at work - which doesn't seem very often at the moment - the binmen do the bare minimum, refusing to pick up any rubbish they drop.

In my road, a main route to several schools, this has resulted in rubbish - including broken glass and used sanitary ware - piling up in the gutter and on the pavement.

One dreads to imagine the state of the binmen's own homes.

I appreciate that shifting rubbish isn't the most attractive of jobs but I can think of some that are worse.

So come on you binmen, take a pride in your work and don't be lazy by refusing to pick up any bits you drop.

-Eric Tanner, Brighton