Brighton stinks. It's official.

The smell and filth from uncollected rubbish continues unabated on many of our streets and the letter from Amanda Brace (Aug 31) really summed it up.

Despite the odd letter of praise in The Argus for our refuse collection, it is clear that an overwhelming majority of residents are mightily fed up with the abominable service we are having to get used to.

The "emergency line" set up to help in this crisis is pointless and a complete waste of time and money. The endless excuses of "teething problems" and "please bear with us" are management gobbledygook. Any business responsible for such a health hazard would not be able to get away with such atrocious service and the irresponsible behaviour by the council cannot be ignored.

As residents resort to desperate measures, including dumping their rubbish outside the town hall and in city streets, it is time to increase the pressure to force the council to take proper notice.

It is also time to try to see if any help is available elsewhere such as from the Government or the courts to force the council to do the job for which we pay increasingly high charges.

Something must be done now. Of course, we can vote them out at the next election but it is too urgent to wait for that.

The council has proved it is incapable of doing an effective job of this vital service and many of us long-suffering residents are paying the price.

-Pete Gillman, Toronto Terrace, Brighton