I write with reference to the article about festive rubbish and the way it accumulates after Christmas (The Argus, January 4).

Maybe some other residents also remember, as I do, some years ago, our refuse would be collected on the same day each week until a Bank Holiday came along, when the collection day would move ahead by one day.

This would then be the new collection day until the next Bank Holiday, which could have been the Easter one, when the collection day would move on two days, until the next Bank Holiday, and so on.

This meant nobody would ever have to wait more than two days for a collection, no matter what time of year it was or where you lived.

I found this system worked absolutely perfectly and it was easy to follow. So long as you knew what day you started on, it was foolproof.

I vaguely remember someone saying it was a complicated system and people were having trouble with it but I think that was just a ruse.

However, Brighton and Hove City Council foisted upon us the system we now have, which seems to stagger from crisis to crisis and, even when there are written collection dates given to us in advance by the refuse department, the collectors, more often than not, miss a collection date.

At the same time, Worthing Borough Council ditched the very system Brighton City Council has adopted and proceeded to introduce the "move on a day each Bank Holiday" system our illustrious council has dumped.

Now it seems one of the two councils had got it wrong and, for my money, I think I know which one - judging by the number of complaints there always seem to be regarding rubbish in Brighton.

Could the council have a look again to see if it would be a good idea to go back to the tried-and-tested system?

After all, it should stop anyone from being missed out and from rubbish piling up outside their houses during holidays.

-John Plowman, Brighton