LAST week I expressed surprise at just how worked up many people have been getting about the prospect of identity cards.

We live in a world where, like it or not, we ARE being watched or rather monitored (a word which means the same but supposedly sounds less objectionable).

Now an organisation called Big Brother Watch (I wonder if they have alarms and security cameras at their headquarters?) is leading an offensive against the latest focus for the country’s increasingly paranoid masses – microchipped wheelie bins!

Apparently Ribble Valley Council is one of 68 around the country to have put silicon (as opposed to soggy) chips in all their bins.

At this point I apologise for going over the heads of those people in East Lancashire who, as one of our online readers put it, are still using bin bags because their councils don’t yet trust them with wheelie bins!

Anyway, Ribble Valley Council says the device will identify which house the bin belongs to and therefore help to cut the number that are lost of stolen.

It will also, they say, ‘provide us with more accurate information about the number of households taking part in recycling.’ It’s that last bit which raises the hackles of BBW and its supporters who reckon this is the first step towards ‘surveillance on our waste habits’ and state scrutiny of our left overs.

This, they claim, will lead to ‘introducing punitive taxes on what we throw away.’ With a grand flourish they add boldly: “The British public doesn’t want this technology, these fines or this intrusion.”

I’m not so sure.

We all know local authorities can’t just go on burying rubbish in the ground. It costs us all a fortune and as a small island we simply haven’t got the room.

People have got to start sorting out their own rubbish and separating the stuff that can be recycled or naturally composted. It saves us all money.

This is something everyone can do regardless of class, education or income. It just requires a few minutes attention and thought.

There’s no reason why those of us who do take the time and effort to sort out our rubbish should be forced to pay for those who can’t be bothered.

Either we should be financially rewarded for doing our bit or those that don’t should be made to pay the extra.

The energies of Big Brother Watch should be focused on real threats to civil liberties and not wasted on encouraging laziness.