If the police are to guard the traffic wardens, does this mean we might see a police presence in Brighton again?

The last time I saw a policeman on the streets of Brighton was during the Labour Party conference last September. He was guarding John Prescott - or was he guarding the policewoman with John Prescott?

Perhaps we should go back to the old days when the police issued parking tickets.

It would put a police presence on the streets and save the taxpayer the cost of the wardens.

But what about the police? Wardens dish out parking tickets.

Community support officers patrol the streets. They look like the police but are totally ineffective. Every bar or nightclub has to have its own security and every shop has a store guard.

Why don't the police occasionally walk into Marks and Spencers or the Co-op and have a look round, just to see what is going on, or as a deterrent.

Finally, we have the highways agency on the motorways who do a good job - the traffic seems to flow better since they took over motorway patrolling.

So exactly what do our police do? Or is protecting wardens it?

-Chris Rackley, Burgess Hill