In response to Jess White (Letters, June 21), we were glad to hear she is one of thousands of residents who responded enthusiastically to Brighton and Hove City Council's kerbside recycling scheme.

It is true, when the service was launched, plastic bags containing materials for recycling, were collected.

However, more recently, residents were collecting bundles of plastic carrier bags which quickly filled the small amount of space available for them on the vehicles.

This resulted in drivers having to store the bags in the cabs because they ran out of space. Towards the end of a round, they had nowhere to store the bags and had to leave them behind.

As a result, the council is phasing out the collection of plastic bags.

We only have five, large compartments on our vehicles and are concentrating our efforts on materials which can be recycled and which arise in the largest quantities.

These are plastic and glass bottles, paper, cardboard and cans. We will also continue to collect household batteries, because these pose an acute risk to the environment if they are not recycled.

Residents are being urged to switch to re-usable bags for their shopping, as this is more sustainable than recycling them or to use them as bin liners or "dog poo" bags.

Alternatively, they can use the plastic bag recycling points at local supermarkets.

For the same reason, the service will stop collecting textiles. Good-quality clothing should be sent to charity shops, while clothes which have seen better days can be dropped off at one of the many collection banks around the city.

To make the sorting operations easier for our crews, we still ask the public to separate materials in their boxes using plastic bags. In future, however, we will be leaving these bags in the boxes for re-use. Households with a lot of recycling can request more boxes.

These decisions have not been taken lightly but will help ensure collections are efficient, consistent and that materials are recycled in the most effective way.

-Tim Moore, Head of Operations Cityclean, Brighton and Hove City Council