SIR, I am amazed that Vale of White Horse District Council, or its contractors, are encouraging dog walkers to dispose of their ‘poo bags’ in the rubbish bins set around Wantage and possibly in other parts of the Vale as receptacles for more normal unwanted items.

On health-and-safety grounds, this mixing of excrement in flimsy plastic bags with general rubbish which, I have always understood is sorted so that recyclables can be salvaged, would seem to have the potential of adding to the unpleasantness of the job for those emptying these bins and those ‘unfortunates’ having the job of extricating the recyclables such as bottles and cans.

Most dog walkers I meet willingly put their ‘poo bags’ into the dedicated bins like those alongside the Humber Ditch or take them back home for disposal.

To see stickers inviting them to also use the rubbish bins does not make sense, although I am certain that most dog walkers make better use of the ‘special’ bins than some others make use of the ‘ordinary’ bins outside the post office in Barnards Way and in The Chestnuts play and leisure area at Charlton.

Someone in the Vale’s administration must have reason(s) for inviting a mix of the ‘clean’ and the ‘dirty’ waste with its potential hazards, but I cannot think what it may be unless it now all goes straight to landfill and isn’t sorted.

On a healthier subject, I did not realise until I saw David Castle’s 2014 calendar in aid of Wantage almshouses how many sculptures Wantage has. I knew of King Alfred’s statue and the Betjeman Park carvings, but many of the others in new developments at St Mary’s, Smith’s Wharf and elsewhere came as a surprise. But, fortunately, a map on the back page shows where to find them.

Jack Loftin, Charlton Village Road, Wantage