READING Saturday’s Argus about Brighton and Hove City Council bringing litter enforcement officers in-house to catch and fine litter-pickers, surely this is a good thing I thought, it must deter people from doing it again?

Last summer, I had a week’s holiday in southern France and just like 25 years previously when I visited Brittany in northern France, the streets and road sides were virtually litter free.

Driving to Lewes the other day on the by-pass, the verges and banks were horrendously coated with all sorts of rubbish, ruining what are some great views.

Why is our country so much more full of litter than France? I would say their population perhaps have grown up to respect their surroundings more and maybe from an early age learn not to discard rubbish.

You only need to walk through our parks after the teenagers or some local football matches have finished using the spaces to see how little care or attention is given to take their rubbish to a bin.

Let’s have more anti -litter signs put up around the city, maybe even flashing temporary ones to get the message across, reminder classes at school about how much more enjoyable it is to live in a clean, litter free environment.

How about some TV or newspaper adverts? Perhaps some of the not so risky inmates at Lewes and Ford prisons and offenders given community service could be organised into “cleaning parties” to get out and help clean up our roads, beaches and countryside.

Take some pressure off the council. There was a team of five pictured with Cllr Mitchell and assuming they are all employed and not on short term contracts, that is quite a financial commitment.

I would go a step further and give them more powers.

Not just “litter enforcement”. Make them into a sort of central city tourist police. Assuming they have radio communication, none could be seen in the picture, let them “radio” in other acts that are detrimental for the rest of the city’s inhabitants.

Pavement and promenade cycling, dogs off leads on the proms, minor antisocial behaviour, parking dangerously outside schools, radioing in when bin bags or rubbish is seen strewn everywhere for immediate collection.

Just seeing someone in a uniform talking into a walkie-talkie is enough for many to buck their ideas up. Many of the litter offenders didn’t even bother to turn up to court to receive their minor penalties.

This initiative will not pay for itself so let’s look to get as much return on cost as possible from all the efforts of those deployed at ground level for the betterment of all.

Gordon White