Illustration by John Sadler www.johnsadlerillustration.com

• A READER wonders why there are so many seagulls in Camden, (Why don’t squawking, screaming gulls go back to sea? July 30).

This is due to the rubbish collection system which operates in much of the borough. Householders or shopkeepers put out the rubbish the night before collection in a plastic bag.

This gives Camden’s vermin (pigeons, seagulls, rats, etc) all night to peck open the bags and strew the rubbish the length of the street, where it will remain for two or three days.

This means that, while we have some of the dirtiest streets in Europe, we have the healthiest vermin. Win-win!

And, to cap it off, the winged vermin can fly into the trees and defecate all over our cars and pavements. The health of our vermin is also bolstered by fast-food rubbish laying everywhere.

There is an alternative. In Edinburgh’s Georgian and Victorian neighbourhoods, each street block has a large bin whose top is operated by a hydraulic foot pedal. Rubbish is deposited without touching the bin. The result is cleaner streets and fewer vermin.

Of course, the bin must be emptied regularly. Perhaps this is why Edinburgh, bounded on two sides by the North Sea, appears to have fewer seagulls than Camden!

MICHAEL CARLEY
Address supplied