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Are you one of those people who gets annoyed when you see someone drop litter? Well, Colchester has become a zero-tolerance zone for litter louts.

Colchester's the first place in Britain I've been to, where they actually enforce the litter laws. No excuses and no second chances: drop rubbish or stub out a cigarette on the pavement or leave a newspaper on a bench and you face a £75 fine.

But the thing is, it won't be the police giving you the fine.

Teams of ordinary council workers with some pretty extraordinary powers patrol the streets on the lookout for litter louts. If they spot someone dropping litter they've got the power to demand their name and address and to issue what's called a fixed penalty notice - that's a fine to you and me.

What if someone refuses to cooperate? Then they have the right to take a photo which the council prints in the local paper, asking for people to dob the person in.

And here's the thing - says it works!

What's happening in Colchester is part of a much wider trend. All around the country ordinary civilians are being given powers that would normally be thought of as police powers - things like stopping traffic, confiscating alcohol or issuing all sorts of fines. The idea is to take the pressure off the Police but some people believe it could bring its own problems.

I suppose the key question is this: Would you be happy to see your local authority doing what Colchester's doing? Can council workers do the work of the police? Is this a long overdue attempt to tackle the scourge of anti-social behaviour?