IN REPLY to Geoff Wells’s letter about footballers’ mess, if he is Mr Wells, the former Brighton and Hove City Council mayor from May 2010-2011, then surely he must know the stringent rules laid down by the council for leasing a football pitch.

Every league team is issued with a contract that states abuse of the dressing rooms and the playing area will not be tolerated. Failing to abide by the rules means a team forfeits the right to use the pitch and also incurs a heavy fine.

If Mr Wells visits the playing field at noon on a Sunday, he will see me and two others clearing mess up around the pitch.

It is not us who make the mess. It is caused by unauthorised teams using the pitch after we have finished.

We pay £58 to hire a pitch every home game for two hours and we don’t expect it to be littered with dogs’ mess.

Harry Atkins, Hornby Road, Brighton