I'm sure you've heard this before - the moan about the mess seagulls make of bagged rubbish put out on our pavements for collection.

Today, although not a collection day, it was particularly bad on Lincoln Street in the Hanover area of Brighton, as I stepped over cat faeces, maggot-infested meat, rusty cans and broken glass to get to my front door.

As we know, ordinary black bin sacks don't keep seagulls out.

While I wait for Cityclean to come up with a better solution, here's one I would like to share - put the sacks in a collapsible garden rubbish bin, bought from a local garden centre.

These are tough, light and take up virtually no storage space. I use an ordinary rubbish bin lid, too, which conveniently is just the right size. I tie both lid and bin to a drain pipe temporarily to prevent them blowing away after collection - but maybe a brick in the bottom would do.

So, there are no storage problems, no problems getting the "diy binvelope" up and down stairs and through narrow hallways and no permanent bin on the narrow pavement, blocking the way of pedestrians unecessarily.

It's cheap and practical. I only wish I'd thought of it earlier - and really hope it catches on.

-Mark Lane, Brighton