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I agree savvygirl. It is hard enough to retrace your steps when you realise you have left something behind somewhere but to find that the item was not held for even an hour before being put outside would be very annoying as the shopowner just wanted rid of it and didn't care if it was stolen. Recently a lady left her keys at a till in M and S and when she came back she said it had taken her an hour to realise and to go into every shop to find them, and she was so grateful they were kept safe.

Lisa Carberry Waste Technical Officer on [email protected] replied to a report made via the link and said exactly that.

Southwark say they will no longer write to residents as sending repeat letters has no effect. Of course that will not have an effect unless they back it up with enforcement.

It seems that many bins are left on the pavements by people who live in houses that have room in their front gardens for them but just don't want bins there. In one area there were seventeen bins on the pavement the other day and all the front gardens could easily hold them. A few years back this problem was solved by enforcement officers putting a notice through doors to say "Any refuse bins found abandoned on the Public Highways will be treated as an offence under the Enviromental Protection Act 1990". Instantly all the offending bins were pulled off the pavement. Southwark say they know there is a huge problem but will not be issuing those notices again. Why not? It was cheap and effective.

I went into Barclays on Friday and when I eventually reached the counter I asked to withdraw ?1,000. The cashier said that the machines dispense up to ?2,000 so why not go and try one. I explained that I didn't want to count that amount over there, and preferred her to count it behind glass and pass it to me, which she did. She said that we should trust the machines to dispense the correct amount and if customers want to count their money from a machine they are directed to sit down next to where the back end of the lengthy queue was standing, which is also near the door.

Barclays in Lordship Lane is getting worse. Today there was only one cashier and a very long and unmoving queue. There were three staff members on the floor, and each customer was told to stay in the queue as the machines could not deal with their particular transaction. One of the staff said that 50% of people were happy with the changes - and got several irate responses.

You are probably right, but I have had my damaged blue and green bins replaced in the past with used bins, which was fine as perfectly good. They may now decide to charge for a spanking new brown one, if they do dispose/recycle all of the unstickered brown bins. Hopefully not but slippery slope and all that.

Yes a very good question. Southwark have always replaced any of the green/blue/brown bins that get damaged or go missing free of charge. Hopefully they will retain a supply of the unstickered brown bins so that they can still be given free of charge to subscribers who may need them in the future. Mind you, you would then have to wait for a replacement sticker so it might be prudent to keep a photocopy of it just in case.

Yesterday there was a handwritten piece of paper put on the pub wall saying that you should give your car registration number inside the Plough. That appears to mean that every incoming vehicle numberplate will be logged somewhere and the staff of the Plough will then stop your particular vehicle from receiving a ticket. Best keep receipts from any drink and food there just in case.

The Plough has just introduced camera controlled parking which is free for their customers but costs ?4 for up to an hour for everyone else. This seems to be to deter the short term parking by people who visit the local shops, or collect children from St. Anthony's, for instance, but it was so handy (and appreciated) as often difficult to park in nearby streets. Now the car park will be empty during the greater part of the day when people are not eating/drinking at the Plough. Driving past it in search of a parking place elsewhere will annoy potential customers, not encourage them. Even if you want to pay to park you can only pay by phone. Wonder what will happen with the Christmas trees sold for charity there as you have to park there to pick one up.

The staff at the Devon Street centre are expecting a huge increase in traffic going there with garden waste in the near future as users have let them know the charge is not popular. At the moment having garden waste collected (and paid for out of council tax) is simple, convenient and helps protect against flytipping. This extra traffic is a problem, and we will still have the same lorries going up the same streets that we have now picking up the stickered bins. Followed by more lorries to collect the food caddies.

Southwark said that everyone should carry on using their garden bins as usual whether they have subscribed or not, as they will not be removing the unstickered bins until August or so. They also said that there would be no need for the unstickered bins to be made empty, since they will be taking away the contents at the same time that they (eventually) take away the bins. With regard to the remaining stickered bins possibly attracting other people's garden waste, Southwark said they expect this might happen but can do nothing about it. They also said that if any garden waste is dumped on a pavement that would be flytipping but if it is put on your property it becomes the householder's responsibility to dispose of it.