In my opinion his confidence is misplaced. I have walked many parts of the countryside around Sheffield for nearly 20 years and in that time I have seen no let up in the amount of rubbish that is illegally fly-tipped. Look at nearly any stretch of river in the region and you will see many kinds of rubbish, continually accumulating along the banks and within the river course itself.

You will realise that rubbish, particularly rubber and plastics of all kinds, is now tightly woven into the fabric of our environment. Nearly every open space in Stocksbridge, where I live, has rubbish present (mostly discarded litter, plastic bottles, cans). With the resources available the council do their best but I believe these efforts are inadequate to meet the task required.

Most of the work on clearing rubbish is targeted at areas where it is most visible and as a consequence there are many locations in the countryside and urban fringe where fly tipping is a continual problem.

I believe Coun Lodge is naïve to suggest the situation will improve. Waste charges are likely to rise for everyone in the future and there will always be those who will try and avoid these costs.

I would encourage those who see fly tipping on a regular basis to keep reporting these incidents to the council - only then will the scale of the problem be truly recognised by local politicians.

Jim Flanagan, Coronation Road, Stocksbridge