HARD on the heels of its announcement last month of a beefed-up drive to clean the streets of Blackburn and Darwen -- back and front -- the council now looks at also setting up a hit-squad to target fly-tippers and to crack down on litter louts.

These recommendations, among others by the Environment Task Group set up last year by the town hall, will surely be welcome -- for, as this newspaper has said, more pro-active measures are needed to get to grips with the rubbish problem.

And, as well as the improved cleansing that is promised, this means catching and prosecuting offenders and deterring others from doing the same.

Encouragingly, the strategy mapped out by the Task Group heads in that direction, proposing not just a rapid response group to clean up all the mess left by illicit dumpers, but also arming it with close-circuit TV equipment to trap and punish them.

Similarly, it recommends a stronger drive against the everyday littering -- with businesses being drawn into the campaign and the employment of litter wardens in a scheme like the progressive one pioneered in Hyndburn which threatens litter-bugs with on-the-spot fines.

One hindrance to these advances is cost. The bill for the rapid response group would be £106,000 and the Task Group also wants above-inflation funding for street cleansing in future years.

Councillors should not be deterred. The improvements would make this expenditure popular -- as frequent complaints about the state of the streets at present often also make taxpayers ask if they they are getting value for money. And with a significant reduction of the rubbish problem, so might the bill for clearing it away fall.

Improved recycling of waste and better information about these services are also recommended -- though Blackburn with Darwen would still be tied to the targets of the Lancashire Waste Strategy which this newspaper believes could be more ambitious -- when they allow as long as 20 years for nine out of 10 households to be recycling refuse. Dare not the unitary authority set greater and swifter goals?