You can have all the rules, regulations and fines you like for littering, but you are flogging a dead horse. Fines don't work. Some people don't care and, more often than not, fines don't get paid.

Most people are clean, tidy Kiwis. They take their litter home or put it in rubbish bins provided. Others don't give a big rat's butt and will leave or chuck their rubbish anywhere but in a bin – and not only rubbish but animals as well, as was the case recently when someone threw a kitten out their car window as they drove along a highway. Despicable wastes of space. They have no respect for themselves or anyone or anything else.

When litterers are found, they should have to remove their litter from the dumping spot and pay to take it to a proper recycling station, with no fines.

The same applies to tourists if they are seen dumping litter or leaving their 'personal bodily waste” anywhere in our beautiful country.

The government and councils are far too lenient. They think a fine will solve everything, but a slap on the wrist with a wet bus ticket isn't working.

S Gussey, Tauranga