SIR - Re your item 'Community clean ups inadvertently harming recycling rates'. (T&A, September 23)

I was very disappointed, as well as angry, to read your report on the Bradford Council’s Corporate Structure Committee meeting.

The suggestion that the litter-picks organised by volunteers throughout the Bradford area is harming recycling rates is completely misguided and, to some extent, insulting.

How would leaving the eyesore of litter on our streets and in our parks and green spaces help the recycling-rate when they freely admit that it is a question of classification?

Here in Baildon, volunteers have collected over 1,600 bags of litter this year alone, saving the Council thousands of pounds.

Instead of scapegoating the many volunteers who spend thousands of hours keeping the area clean and free of litter, the Council should focus their energy elsewhere and develop a more effective strategy to improve recycling rates.

Dave McDougall, Organiser, Litter-Free Baildon