Newsreader Mike a hard act to follow Volunteers taking on litter problem

IN the death of Mike Neville, the North East has lost a celebrity. To me he will always embody the phrase “presence of mind”.

I recall an edition of Look North many years ago when continuity broke down badly. However, Mike rose to the occasion and with a smile on his face ad-libbed merrily for a quarter of an hour. He will be a hard act to follow!

JACK FLETCHER, Chopwell IT may only be the tip of the iceberg but it is good news that the Chronicle highlighted the litter louts in Northumberland Street who have been brought to justice and suitably fined. The charge for offenders is £75, and, over a three-year period from 2014 to 2017, there have been over 8,000 fixed-penalty notices issued, aggregating £690,000 in fines.

I hope this formidable figure is being used to further fund the abolition of the fastescalating litter problem throughout the city.

One local group which is trying to get to grips with the problem are the Lib Dems in the Fawdon Ward. It is spearheaded by Coun David Faulkner, the former leader of the Newcastle city council.

Together with an enthusiastic group of largely young people, led by 21-year-old Rob Austin, Faulkner has organised Litter Pick Days which are staged throughout the month.

Their work is centred on North Kenton Park, which is a particularly black spot for litter.

Some of the area’s youths have little conscience in fouling up the park, where some mornings it has to be seen to be believed.

The young team are tidying up the park before the next avalanche of papers, cans, bottles etc descend.

The council workers responsible for clearing the day-to-day rubbish are also fighting a losing battle as, with the cutbacks, their manpower is being reduced. However, with the unpaid volunteers’ help they endeavour to keep the park clean, and do as good a job as possible.

I would like to think that other local authorities in the region were following the enterprise of David Faulkner and his young team at Fawdon.

A final thought. Could the area’s schools do more to highlight the problem? In many cases, their pupils are some of the main offenders.

CHRIS ROBINSON, Gosforth