MAYBE the title gives it away – yes, rubbish collections as in poor, not as in waste.

I recently visited Leeds and it saddened me see the streets of uncollected rubbish due to the collection staff having been on strike.

It is certain that now the strike has finally come to an end, the streets of Leeds should be clean and rubbish-free.

Over the past several months in The Groves, I have noticed a steady increase in uncollected rubbish, black bags with council notes on them and complete confusion on which day to put out rubbish or items for recycling.

One thing is for sure, the city of Leeds will get back to as it was before the strikes; and one thing for sure The Groves will never be same again.

Yet again, I feel it is down to the plan the council put forward for fortnightly collection and the use of wheelie bins in The Groves.

I hope they are ashamed of themselves for letting the public down, and failing to keep the streets clean. York Pride? Tell me about it.

Gary Mitchell The Groves, York A City of York Council spokeswoman, said: “The ever changing student population in many areas of York, of which The Groves area is one, continues to challenge the council’s waste team to ensure new residents are aware of the waste presentation and collection process.

“The enforcement team works closely with the universities and landlord associations to encourage a good flow of information.

“This is backed up by a letter from the waste services department explaining when collection days are, how to sort the recycling and when and where it should be presented. These letters went out into the Groves area in late October.

“The enforcement team is monitoring the area to encourage compliance with the system.

“There has not been a noticeable increase in complaints regarding fly tipping or refuse presented, but we are aware of some ‘hot spots’ which are the focus of our enforcement team.”