LANGHAM Lane forms part of the Colchester Half Marathon route.

Watching, from my garden, the many determined runners going past one has to admire their strenuous efforts for charity.

The expressions on the faces of the stragglers makes you hope they were well sponsored.

However, one disadvantage of being on the route is seeing the litter left behind by the runners.

Plastic water bottles aplenty and energy gel plastic tubes in abundance, thrown out onto the grass verge and into hedges and ditches.

I died a litter pick from my houses for about 300 yards and picked up 50 tubes and a number of sponsored plastic bottles.

Assuming this stretch of the route is representative, that makes a lot of litter deposited over the 13-mile route.

It would be lovely if sponsors of future runs could arrange for people to go along behind the runners, at least in the countryside parts of the route, where the council does not perform regular litter picks, and pick up the runners' litter.

It would be even better if the runners did not throw their litter in the first place.

Does the fact you are running exempt you from litter laws?

Michael Firmin

Langham Lane