It was a real pleasure to look at a sparkling clean river between George Lane car park and Priory Gardens in Marlborough this week.

Students and staff of Marlborough College, in conjunction with Action for the River Kennet and co-operation from Kennet District Council, made a superb job of clearing the rubbish. Even better, they're coming back to do more!

Sadly, as the weather becomes warmer, groups of young people will gather once again in Priory Gardens and litter will build up. Inevitably some of it will end up in the river. It needs a mammoth effort from parents, teachers, councillors, residents and police to stop this anti-social behaviour.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if we strewed Priory Gardens with litter deliberately and encouraged dogs to foul the area.

A public outcry, of course, and I suspect from every age group. Would these young offenders choose to sit down amongst filth or would they go elsewhere? If you have kids that picnic in Priory Gardens, maybe you could appeal to their better nature. If they like to gather in a litter free garden, can't they understand that other people also like to do the same? It's worth noting that dropping litter is an offence.

I'm not alone in having zero tolerance and neither am I alone in saying thank you to the people who have taken time to clear up. It's just sad that it is necessary.

V Compton

Marlborough