I WRITE in reply to the letter from M Macqueen of October 2 regarding the safe disposal of fluorescent lamps. These lamps are more correctly called low pressure mercury discharge lamps. They always should have been designated as hazardous waste.

The recycling centre is operated by Hampshire County Council as they are throughout the county. It is therefore the county council who must take urgent action to resolve this problem.

I asked Cllr Kendal, the new Cabinet member for the environment at the county council, what action he intended to take about this matter at the county council meeting on September 28. The answer was very little. The so-called low energy lamps are in fact mini-fluorescent lamps. All fluorescent lamps contain mercury and many contain cadmium. If these are put into landfill they could seep into our water supply. We need to warn the public about the danger of disposing of these lamps in our normal waste bins.

It is not helping the environment if we have to drive 20 or more miles in order to dispose of lamps. They can be crushed, all the chemicals reclaimed, the glass and metal parts recycled in crushers which are quite cheap to purchase. As an alternative the used lamps could be stored at waste recycling points and then collected for safe disposal.

ALAN BROADHURST, county councillor Eastleigh West