City needs tough action against litter
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Leicester Mercury
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On the face of it, dropping a cigarette end in the street is not much of a crime. Given this, the £265 of fines and charges handed out by Leicester magistrates to seven smokers yesterday may look like a pretty harsh punishment.
However, littering our streets is a sign of disrespect and makes it all the more difficult for those trying to make the city a more attractive place to visit and shop.
There is plenty of evidence available to show that allowing places to look neglected encourages further anti-social behaviour and increased crime. Consequently, we support the city council in its attempts to stamp it out.
In fact, we would like to see further action taken – those dropping chewing gum on to the pavement would be near the top of the list of our priorities in cleaning up the city. Spitting and foul language would be there too.
The town of Barnsley recently started issuing on-the-spot fines for people who use foul and abusive language in street. Although many scoffed at the action, there was plenty of support from residents, particularly the elderly and those who took young children into the town centre.
There will be those who say such fines are no more than an extension of the nanny state, telling us how to behave, or, worse still, an thinly disguised attempt to raise more revenues for city coffers.
However, we believe the vast majority of people do not want to see this sort of low-level anti-social behaviour and welcome the council's actions.
If you think the punishment for dropping litter in the street is too harsh, there's a simple solution – don't drop litter! 作者: chenyizheng 时间: 2014-11-16 20:24