CHRISTMAS is one of the busiest times of year for most retail outlets, pubs, clubs, and many public service organisations, such as the post office. They all respond to additional demand by extending trading hours and employing extra staff. Household refuse collection is the opposite. At a time when family visits, gift and extra food packaging fill our dustbins to overflowing, 20% of us have our collections halved! We cannot take any bags of this to the municipal tip as they will inevitably contain food waste. Even a trip to the bottle bank is counter productive since economists calculate the fuel used outweighs any recycling savings generated. The result is a growing pile of unsightly and unhealthy rubbish around our homes. If the operation was consumer-led, like the shops and pubs, we would be enjoying two collections a week, not one in a fortnight. I don?t blame the refuse operatives, who are as entitled to holiday time off as much as anyone, and are probably now working extra hard to catch up with the backlog. The failure must lie with those we pay, through our council taxes, to organise such services. No doubt there are plenty of reasons these civil servants will put forward for a reduced holiday time service, such as lack of special vehicles and good old ?Health and Safety?. But what about a little lateral thinking? Surely a contractor can be employed to carry out extra ?black bag only? collections during the Christmas period? Why not some skips in public places, being monitored to ensure they are emptied regularly? There must be several other initiatives which would solve the problem. Come on, you public servants, earn your new office accommodation, secure jobs and index linked pensions. Please sort things out before next time. David Crofton Down Park Drive Tavistock