Since the council no longer has the money to maintain street cleaning, there has been a tendency for more people to just chuck rubbish on the ground – on the principle that rubbish attracts more rubbish.

At the bottom of the hill there is a low wall next to a telecoms junction box that regularly has a small crowd of street drinkers; who just leave their cans and bottles on the ground- or post them through the railings. I’ve got into the habit of picking them up and putting them in the bin by the bus stop in a desperate attempt to be socially useful – and on the principle that having less rubbish on the streets will attract fewer additions.

But today I picked them up and arranged them in a line, with the labels all present and correct like the Guards Brigade on parade as a more challenging statement – and perhaps to suggest to other passers by that the litterbugs had become anally retentive.