THE Wiltshire Times campaign to rid the county's lanes and lay-bys of unwanted rubbish continues with more examples of householders dumping rubbish on public land.

But Melksham residents no longer have any excuse the David Sprules Household Waste Recycling Centre, named after the popular Melksham resident who died in a road crash earlier this year, was opened on Friday, November 30.

His widow Marjorie, of Woodrow Road, attended the opening as Melksham officially paid tribute to the 67-year-old.

Mr Sprules was a well-known character in the town, always collecting scrap metal and unwanted materials from people's homes.

He was killed when a Volkswagen van careered into his bicycle trailer as he was travelling along Sandridge Road in July.

Oil, plastic bottles, garden waste, cardboard and textiles can all be recycled at the centre, which is the second of three planned for the district.

Land has already been bought at Canal Road in Trowbridge for the third centre due to be built in 2002.

The centre has been developed in partnership with Hills Waste, who will operate the site on behalf of the district council.

After recent complaints West Wiltshire District Council has confirmed its appeals process to help people challenge bills for the collection of non-domestic waste.

Charities and voluntary organisations in Codford said they were being conned by the council over surprise bills for refuse collection.

However, the council explained that rubbish generated by anything other than a domestic residence is termed as non-domestic waste and subject to a charge.

An examination of how non-domestic waste collections are carried out found dozens of premises were receiving collections but not being charged.

Backdated bills plus an invoice for the current financial year, have now been sent to these organisations, together with a letter outlining how an appeal against payment can be made.

Trevor Askew, head of commercial services, said: "It is impossible for us to look at a name on a database and clearly identify who can afford to pay and who can't.

"This is why we have said that anyone who feels they cannot pay should write to us and their case will be considered on its individual merits."

Any organisation that has received a bill and wishes to appeal should make a case in writing to the council no later than January 14, 2002.