I AM more than pleased to see the issues of litter and fly tipping being taken seriously at last; it is a blight of our times (Paving the way for a cleaner city, April 15).

However, being a retired police officer, now a part-time claims inspector, I have concerns as to the protection of these well-meaning environment officers in this age of 'I'll sue' culture.

The penultimate paragraph of the article drew my attention, relating to a litterbug who refused to give her name and Karen's response: "We can always call the police."

As most of the city centre is now traffic free and therefore no vehicle registrations can be taken, is the giving of one's name and address purely an issue of enforcement by consent?

What powers do these officers have to demand your name and address? And do they have any powers to detain a person until the arrival of the police (assuming there is one available)?

If not, then it doesn't take much to envisage the issues that could arise with regard to unlawful arrest, detention, whatever you want to call it, let alone if any physical contact occurs whereby someone could claim some form of assault, however trivial.

We all see incidents of litter being thrown about and yet little is done about it for fear of retribution. But who will protect the interests of the people who are expected to enforce these regulations?

Ken Sandercock,

Woodlands Avenue,

Wigginton,

York.

Updated: 10:07 Tuesday, April 20, 2004