JAMES Birch, in his letter, “Litter louts are not terrorists” (April 4), lambastes Cllr Roger Hayes for wanting to use extra surveillance to catch trivial offenders.

Mr Birch says his council tax has gone up again “yet we get this sort of thing from our councillors”.

Surely, Mr Birch realises that a hefty portion of his council tax is spent on cleaning up after these trivial offenders? He should realise, too, that nipping this in the bud would actually save on council spending.

Alan Johnson, chairman of the Green Party in Bolton, thinks Cllr Hayes has the Big Brother mentality. He says education and stiff fines are what is needed.

Education may well work in the long term, but the problem is now.

Fines are not a fair punishment because they hit poorer people harder than the better off. Community service is much better for all offenders.

In a letter last December, I said that local councils should be encouraged by government to increase the use of surveillance to catch so-called trivial offenders. I said that litter, graffiti, dog dirt, loud music and on-street drinking might seem trivial to those in Westminster, but to decent people who have to put up with it, they are far from trivial.

It is a measure of the depths that society has sunk to that these measures are now needed. Politicians — or some of them — should pull their heads out of the sand.

Brian Derbyshire, Ribchester Grove, Bolton