There was hardly a single 10-metre stretch of the verge, on both sides, that was not covered with rubbish of various descriptions - beer bottles and cans, fast-food packaging, and plastic bags, all of which would have been dropped by pedestrians or (more likely) thrown out of car windows.

Must our environment be blighted by these tossers?

They may be a minority but their numbers are significant - the evidence is everywhere to be seen.

Do we want our country to end up looking like Yemen, where often the ground is not visible for litter?

So I say this to the tossers of Lake Macquarie - do it at home if you're that slovenly.

If you are happy to live in squalor, do so on your own patch, but have some respect for your fellow citizens and the environment which we all share and would like to enjoy.

- Peter King, Toronto