Bill Bryson on Panorama on Monday was of course completely right that Britain is increasingly a tip, and that we need stronger enforcement of our anti-litter laws, greater surveillance of fly-tipping sites and more on-the-spot fines.

But I have the feeling that if there were more on-the-spot fines handed out in Shrewsbury town centre, it wouldn't be long before locals would be howling "NANNY STATE!", "JOBSWORTH!", "STEALTH TAX!" and "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD!"

After all, here are a couple of examples of how locals respond to the idea of fines...

Rubbish fines may top those for thieves

Speed cameras

You would think that the council would be proactive in handing out fines as surely it must outweigh the cost of street cleansing. Most Sundays in Shrewsbury town centre, I see polysterene takeaway packaging disguarded innapropriately in shop doorways. I also think the fast food outlets who supply packaging that is not biodegradable need to be held responsible too. In the countryside where I live people regularly fly tip and it seems to be getting worse.

Regarding the nanny state and fines, at the end of the day if people act irresponsibly then they should be penalised, the litter problem seems to be exclusive to this throw away country, after all if you comply you dont get fined!

As for the fines for having an overfilled bin, the problem I have found out is that if the lid is up on the full bin it is difficult for the binpeople to correctly tip it into the wagon. They still leave out overfilled bins unemptied but some people have been disposing their rubbish illegally hence I beleive the new fine.

Fines and the rates of fining need a good revamp, wholesale, as thy seem so imbalanced.