A communications company has been sharply criticised for failing to clean up its act.

In February, Councillor Sheila Player, leader of Worthing Borough Council, wrote to NTL asking the firm to remove graffiti from its green roadside boxes.

Two months later, NTL has still not replied, despite a reminder a month ago.

Coun Player, Lib Dem leader of the council, which has been praised for its crackdown on graffiti in the town, said: "It is just not good enough."

Her initial letter to the chief executive of NTL stated: "I am writing to you directly to express my concern and disappointment about the condition of your street boxes in Worthing.

"Worthing Borough Council is committed to improving the environment of Worthing and this is reflected in our mission statement.

"We have invested heavily in an enhanced graffiti removal service, which is making a great impact on reducing the level of graffiti on both public and private property.

"However, this good work is being undermined by the extremely poor condition of your street equipment. There are hundreds of NTL boxes in Worthing and it is our estimation that at least 80 per cent of them have graffiti and/or fly posting on them, much of which has been present for months, and, in some cases, years.

"We have approached your local office and your regional director but have met with a simple reply that there is no budget available to inspect and clean street boxes and only a very small budget to carry out the most basic of repairs.

"I am aware, however, that if individual boxes are reported then usually a contractor does eventually attend and clean them. Obviously this approach cannot be sustained given the large quantity of boxes that need attention.

"While we have contact details to report these individual boxes, your company has refused us permission to make this contact public so the problem continues and worsens.

"You will appreciate the Local Government (Goods and Services) Act prevents us from 'trading' with yourselves and so I cannot offer you the use of our contractors on a rechargeable basis.

"One option that is available to you might be to make a donation to the Borough-wide initiative to tackle graffiti (as others have done) and for us to include some NTL boxes in our regular inspections.

"The possible use of the Youth Offending Team to tackle the problem has also been considered but its efforts are being directed to other schemes of community benefit in the area.

"In conclusion, your management of your assets is very poor and having a severely detrimental impact on the environment of the town.

"I would appreciate your commitment that the necessary resources will be made available in the very near future to get on top of the problem and maintain the boxes in good condition thereafter."

When The Argus-Sentinel contacted NTL a month ago after hearing Coun Player had not received a reply, a company spokeswoman apologised.

She said a letter would be sent immediately to Coun Player and senior management would be informed of the graffiti problem in Worthing with a view to doing something about it.

But Coun Player has still not received a reply and is now sending a second letter to NTL.

She said: "I haven't even had the common courtesy of an acknowledgement. It is not really good enough. If we look around the town now the one thing letting us down is the NTL boxes.

"The rest of the town is beginning to look a lot cleaner and brighter. People are telling us it looks better. But NTL is being less than helpful."

A spokeswoman for NTL said she had not seen the letter from Coun Player and asked The Argus to fax a copy of it to her.

She added: "We would like to take responsibility but it is really difficult because in some cases the cabinets get covered in graffiti as soon as they are cleaned up."

On receiving the letter from The Argus, she pledged that Coun Player would be contacted very soon.