A SEASIDE town has organised a clampdown on litter problems.Aldeburgh Town Council is set to issue individuals who leave rubbish out too early or too late for collection with warning letters.

A SEASIDE town has organised a clampdown on litter problems.

Aldeburgh Town Council is set to issue individuals who leave rubbish out too early or too late for collection with warning letters.

Town councillors also plan to issue letters to people found to have left items unsuitable for recycling at the recycling centre at Fort Green – explaining that they must take them to tips at Leiston or Foxhall Road, just outside Ipswich.

In each, they are warned that what they are doing may constitute fly-tipping for which there is a fixed penalty notice.

The town suffers from problems with litter strewn across the streets, particularly at the height of the season when visitors and holidaymakers leave out black bags of rubbish at the end of their stay – regardless of whether it is due to be collected.

Residents are upset that unsightly problems are caused as seagulls and other animals attack the bags, causing their contents to spill out.

The town council has been looking for solutions to the problem for some time, and had asked about the possibility of getting additional collections or bins, but were told by Suffolk Coastal District Council that the town would have to bear the high cost for the additional services.

Town appearance committee chairman Marianne Fellowes, who is spearheading the town's latest initiative, said they hoped to encourage people to recycle more, and encourage the district council to fulfil its role.

The letters would be given out by members of the town council, she explained.

"It's in the spirit of advice and information to begin with, but we'll log when that letter is sent," she said.

"If they continue to do that, that can constitute fly-tipping. That log will be provided to Suffolk Coastal."

Suffolk Coastal may then issue a fixed notice penalty, she said.

"It's a pro-active response to encourage them first of all," she said. "Some people may not realise it's an offence."

They had to think "more creatively" about the problem of waste, she said.

"The thing is that Aldeburgh is a lovely place to come to, but if it is strewn with rubbish everyone suffers," she said.

"We have also asked the public for ideas if they feel there is a problem. For example if you have a row of houses that are holiday lets, is there a creative solution?"