WOULD you like a pile of rubbish thrown in your back garden? I doubt it, but some people don’t think twice about dumping their rubbish in the countryside!

'Filthy Britain Needs Stricter litter laws’ wrote your columnist Helen Mead recently. I absolutely agree!

I have been walking regularly from home during ‘lockdown’ and during the wet weather this has mostly been on the country lanes.

I have been disgusted by the amount of litter in the hedgerows. Much of this is take-away items; pizza boxes, coffee cups, plastic drinking bottles and beer cans, as well as cigarette packets and sweet wrappers. None of this is compostable, therefore it will just remain, spoiling the countryside and being an eyesore.

Adults are responsible for this as most of it will be tossed out of a car window. I believe that in Maidstone, Kent a scheme is being pioneered to catch and fine motorists who do this. This should not be necessary but if it works, great.

There is so much to be gained from immersing ourself in nature and appreciating our planet. I cannot understand this irresponsible and un-caring attitude. It was instilled in me as a child never to drop litter. We need these basic values. Nurture the child and respect nature.

Jacqueline Sedgwick,

Meadlands,

York