GIVEN the unsightly state of pavements and public places covered in gobbets of discarded chewing gum, I am sure lots of East Lancashire people will support Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans' demand for on-the-spot fines for those who spit out the stuff .

Mr Evans' call came after councillors in his constituency wrote to the heads of schools in Clitheroe asking them to ban the use of gum in their playgrounds and after residents expressed anger over the amount of gum deposited on town-centre pavements.

"Spitting out chewing gum is offensive and can damage people's property. It's a foul thing to do and if people want to chew gum they should be responsible about it," he said.

He might also have added that as well as being repulsive and anti-social -- particularly when the appearance of expensively-paved pedestrian areas like redeveloped Church Street is ruined by the gum-gobbing louts -- clearing up the mess they create costs taxpayers a packet.

But while there is merit in Mr Evans' belief that community police officers should be empowered hit offenders with instant fines, would it make a lot of difference?

I ask because on-the-spot fines for litterers and dog owners who let their pets foul public places have been in force for some time now in East Lancashire, but, according to my observation, without them having had any marked effect on either problem.

No doubt the community bobbies and rangers wielding this power have lots of other demands on their services -- too many, in fact, if one goes off the recent evidence of stretched park rangers in Burnley issuing just five such fines since June and only 118 for dog fouling in more than two years since the system began and just 51 for littering. I am sure a much more effect deterrent against the anti-social gum, litter and dog-muck louts would be to replace the evidently very much hit-and-miss system of instant fines with community sentences that require offenders to publicly clean up the mess themselves and be named and shamed in the process.