When Emrys and June Marks wanted to voice their fears about wheelie bins they thought there was only one way to do it.

And that was to turn to poetry.

The budding bards felt their concerns would receive more attention if their letter of complaint to Bradford Council's cleansing department was a little out of the ordinary.

So June - an accomplished poet in her own right - put pen to paper and jotted down a ditty containing all her fears about the bins due to come to Keighley.

Their poem included the lines:

Living upon the hillside, however will we cope

With 20 of these monsters and those winds upon our slope?

It's all that we can manage, either side of our small alley,

The day of bins and black sacks already shames the Pride of Sally!

But what Mr and Mrs Marks didn't expect was a reply in delightful verse.

The powers that be - well, district manager Jeff Kershaw - took on the challenge and sought to beat them at their own game.

Disabled Emrys, 48, of Kendal Street, says: "We envisage all sorts of practical problems with the wheelie bins.

"We live at the top of a hill where it is quite exposed to the elements and we don't have a garden - the bins could end up blowing all over the place.

"My wife is a poet so she thought it would be a good idea to put our concerns in verse form. We were pleasantly stunned when we got a poem back.

"I am impressed that someone has clearly taken considerable time to compile this response - it is much more imaginative than the standard reply."

District manager Jeff, 58, was delighted with the reaction to his own response in verse but has no delusions of poetic grandeur.

Part of his reply read:

I thank you for your letter regarding wheelie bins,

It seems to be a problem like the seven deadly sins,

To contain all your rubbish that blows around the hill,

Would best be placed into a bin and put out at your will.

Jeff added: "It was a challenge and a bit of fun - it brightened up my day. I deal with a lot of correspondence as part of my job and this is not the first time I have replied to someone in verse."

Wheelie bins are to be introduced to all parts of Keighley this year. Jeff is now planning a site visit to discuss the issue - and no doubt the finer points of poetry with Mr and Mrs Marks.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.