In the bleak mid-Essex...

MY HUSBAND and I went for a walk locally this Christmas week and noticed rubbish on the pavements, so the next day we went out again armed with black sacks and filled two of them in less than an hour with bottles and cans.

The streets looked so much better, it gave us a good feeling for the rest of the day and was also much healthier than sitting indoors all day!

YVONNE DOWSON, Benfleet, Essex.