Although I was unhappy to read about the run-down state of Hove (The Argus, April 19), the unfortunate residents could always take a trip out into the surrounding countryside for relief.

Here in the delightful hamlet of Small Dole we are blessed with a small village green which has daffodils and a pair of seats.

Relaxing on one of these seats, you are able to look out on to a pleasant pastoral scene of cows grazing in a nearby field.

This idyll is marred only by the profusion of scattered crisp packets, torn-up daffodils, a graffiti-covered bus shelter and the rusting wreck of a dumped car in the lay-by.

A very public-spirited lady goes round early morning to pick up the rubbish and deposits it in a bin but, by evening, it will all return.

In disgust, you may wish to repair to the village pub. Alas, it has been boarded up for the best part of a year and is endowed with its share of debris outside the door.

It is highly unlikely this can be entirely attributed to children - certainly not the dumped car or the mattresses and plastic bags of rubbish on the side of the road a few miles from the Shoreham convenience tip. The grass is not always greener.

-William Corkerton, Tottington Drive, Small Dole