SICK of mountains of junk mail dropping through your letter box every day?

Council officials say they have a rubbish-busting solution that should help clear the doorsteps of most city residents.

City of York Council today reminded people that by following a couple of simple steps, they could drastically reduce the amount of unwanted mail posted through their door.

They said that cutting the amount of junk mail that heads straight for the bin would also be great news for the environment.

Top tips from the council to banish junk mail include:

Contacting the mailing preference service by phone on 0845 7034599 (which costs the same as a local rate call); or writing to Mailing Preferense Service, FREEPOST 29 LON 20771, London, W1E 0ZT; or emailing it on www.mpsonline.org.uk Registering will remove your name from the majority of direct mailing lists

Look for the tick box when filling in forms to stop advertising being posted out to you

Put a "No junk mail" sticker on your letterbox. These can be obtained by phoning the council on 01904 551551 or by emailing recycling.team@york.gov.uk

Sara Goodhead, waste development assistant, at City of York Council, said: "Most households receive vast amounts of junk mail and this leaves residents stuck with lots of paper that they don't necessarily want and then have to dispose of.

"Many residents are really environmentally aware and don't like to see resources being wasted in this way, but few people realise that there are steps that they can take to cut down on the amount of junk mail that they receive."

She called on people to remember to recycle any junk mail that they receive, but urged them to remove plastic and envelopes first.

Executive environment member, Coun Andrew Waller, estimated that junk mail made up about three per cent of city bins each year - representing about 3,000 tonnes of waste.

He said the tips from the council made a real difference in the fight against unwanted mail.

"I know because I don't have a credit card and kept getting letters inviting me to get one," said the Liberal Democrat.

"But since I have signed up there has been a significant downturn. After just one month it cuts it right down."

Updated: 11:23 Friday, May 27, 2005