HAIL and welcome to William Hickson, Lancashire's first anti-litter warden -- now on patrol in Hyndburn.

Beefy Bill looks like a lad who can look after himself -- and he probably needs to be when his job means confronting litter louts and telling them to pick up their rubbish or face an on-the-spot fine of £25.

Imagine dealing with a stroppy lager lout who's just tossed his pizza box on to the pavement.

But if such a tough approach is needed and overdue, not just in go-ahead Hyndburn but elsewhere in East Lancashire -- as the filthy state of many streets makes plain -- isn't it time that our councils began confronting the cause as well as the effects?

After all, aren't they the ones who have handed out planning consents like confetti for all those takeaways that generate so much of the trash that our throwaway society leaves in the streets?

This explosion of fast food joints has encouraged much of the littering in our town centres and it is a pity that the bill for discouraging it with the likes of Mr Hickson -- of whom we need many more -- cannot be delivered to the takeaways in the form of a special clean-up tax if, as it seems, our town halls are unable or unwilling to restrict their numbers.