I WRITE to enquire whether you have heard of any cure for the very serious disease that appears to be reaching epidemic proportions across our nation? For want of a better title, I will call it ‘litterbugitis’!

It seems that we ‘proud’ Brits no longer have any pride in, or sense of responsibility for, the appearance of our towns and wonderful countryside.

So many of us are prepared to drop litter in our streets and throw rubbish from our vehicles, seemingly totally immune to the resultant mess. The selfish assumption seems to be that “someone else will pick it up” and no consideration is given to the fact that clearing-up the mess costs money that society needs not to have to afford.

The streets and front gardens of Keighley are ample evidence of this disease but the disease continues to spread far wider than that.

Last week I travelled to Settle. All the way, with hardly a break, both sides of the road are covered in rubbish which can only have been thrown from vehicles.

No doubt new growth of grass will hide some of it but, as this outrageous behaviour continues, there will soon be continuous stretches of piled-up unsightly and probably very smelly refuse. It will look like the recent snow deposits but will certainly not melt away.

It is possibly the case that the cost of engaging the highway maintenance crews to carry out the dangerous task of removing this continuous eyesore is no longer affordable, but it should not be necessary anyway.

I confess that I have absolutely no idea as to how to start to cure the disease that is blighting our towns and countryside. “Come to Yorkshire and add to and share our rubbish” could well become our slogan.

How can we eradicate ‘litterbugitis’ and replace it with ‘litterbug-hate-is’?

MICHAEL PARKINSON Utley