I WRITE this letter more in hope than expectation, but I really think we have to try everything in the book to stop this moronic minority who appear intent on turning our wonderful countryside into ugly rubbish dumps for the sake of a few quid.

Hopefully an Echo reader may have had some recent building work carried out on their home and after viewing the photograph may recognise among the rubble, the red patterned carpet, the blue underlay, the light purple wallpaper and blue wallpaper as well as the discarded "Ferham" water tank.

I have no doubt that in addition to the building costs, the householder will have paid the going landfill rate to the builder for the legitimate removal of the rubbish to a landfill site.

Unfortunately for us council tax payers, thankfully in a minority of cases, the greedy builder has decided to pocket the landfill cash by dumping the rubbish slap bang in the middle of beautiful countryside, regardless of the consequences, even though the landfill site is less than half a mile away. This disgraceful conduct gives our good genuine builders and disposal firms a bad name and should be stopped at all costs.

So if you are that lucky householder, who recognises your property, do us all a favour by picking up your telephone and contacting the Sunderland Civic Centre or the Environment Agency with whatever information you may have.
Bill Angus,
Newbottle

Report it to us
FURTHER to the Fulwell resident (Letters, May 29), who notes how shops in the area were "fly-tipping", we would suggest that anyone who has a similar issue should call the Neighbourhood Helpline – 0300 1000 101.

People can use Neighbourhood Helpline to report a range of issues that can affect and spoil their quality of life. Since it went "live" at the beginning of April, Neighbourhood Helpline, which is a joint venture between Sunderland and Newcastle city councils, has received more than 3,000 calls and helped more than 1,000 people in the two cities.

You can call 0300 1000 101, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to report issues associated with abandoned vehicles, dog fouling, noise nuisance – for example, noisy neighbours or burglar alarms, rubbish, litter or fly-tipping – including discarded needles or dead animals, sale of alcohol to under 18s, smoking in enclosed public places, street lighting – including broken lights or badly lit areas, vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage

Some Neighbourhood Helpline services may not be delivered round-the-clock, but you can report a problem at any time to 0300 1000 101 and you'll be told when it will be sorted out.

Anyone with a non-emergency incident and wanting a police response should call: 03456 043 043

Councillors Dave Allan (Sunderland City Council) and Anita Lower (Newcastle City Council)

Think of tomorrow
IT was with dismay that I read of the fuel protests taking place, not just in the UK, but worldwide.

We have become so reliant on this unsustainable commodity of oil that the probability of increasing prices has everyone up in arms.
People need to realise that oil will run out.

No more oil means no more petrol. There's no wild card for the world's governments to play at the last minute. When it's gone, it's gone!

Our whole way of life is under threat but all people seem to care about is today, and to hell with tomorrow!

Suppose that the government decides to cut fuel duty, then what?

Whether we like it or not, the taxes raised from fuel duty go a long way to funding the running of the country.

The money would have to be raised from somewhere. More tax on food perhaps? Food prices are rocketing as a direct result of oil prices as higher fuel means more expensive farming and more expensive transportation of food to our supermarkets. Would you be happier having to pay even more taxes on the food you eat instead?

Perhaps you would prefer that our schools, hospitals and police forces go underfunded instead so that your family can afford to run three cars?

Unfortunately, we live in a greedy world where most people only seem to care about their own welfare. For every person that now stops and thinks about petrol prices before jumping in the car and decides to take the short walk instead, good for you!
David Hepworth,
Hylton Castle,
Sunderland

Poor show at pool
HAVING taken my two grandchildren to the leisure pool at Sunderland's leisure centre for the past three years on alternate Saturdays, I was disappointed to hear it was to close.

However leaflets given to us advertising the new Aquatic Centre at Monkwearmouth, boasting a large inflatable, sounded ideal for my two grandchildren aged seven and 12.

We arranged to go on Tuesday, May 27, arriving at 11.30 am, paid £8.50 to get in, soon changed and into the pool. Unfortunately the floor was set to a depth of 1.4 metres which was too deep for my seven-year-old grandson to stand up in. After asking a member of staff the pool was emptied of people and the floor was raised to one metre.

To say they were disappointed with the pool would be an understatement. The water was cold, there was no inflatable, so we stayed for about 20 minutes and left.

I think the council has sold the children of Sunderland short with this new pool and think it is lacking any facilities for our younger generation.

We have now decided to go to the leisure pool at South Shields and hope Sunderland Council reconsiders the decision to close Sunderland's Crowtree leisure pool
David Reay
Harthope Avenue,
Sunderland