Sir - I entirely disagree with councillor Jean Fooks' assertion that the Labour party are not listening to the residents of Oxford regarding food waste recycling.

In fact, I would say that the exact opposite is the case: Labour are listening to the public very well indeed.

Having recently suffered substantial rodent-induced damage to my property I went to purchase some rat pellets from the local store. The shopkeeper informed that it was the 13th box he had sold in a week to residents in the road.

Although I have very little in the way of refuse myself, I am receiving the rodent fallout from all the piles of refuse in the street. Having sustained a thousand pounds of damage to my kitchen and appliances I contacted my home insurers and was gleefully told the cover excluded all damage by rodents.

Councillor Fooks' assertion that methane from food waste will contribute to global warming has rendered me speechless. Geologists have found evidence of massive methane eruptions in Siberia this century and the world did not boil up then! Thank goodness the newly-elected Labour administration in Oxford has plenty of common sense and have decided to bin the Lib Dems' food waste plan.

Susan Thomas, Oxford