PaulM,

Congratulations on having the courage to apologise to Swirlygirl; you have gone up greatly in my estimation. Takes a brave person to admit they were wrong on a public forum.
Now back to the topic of the thread: I reckon Peg is on to something with the litter thing. Litter isn't the cause of the problem, but it is a prime symptom of the problem, the lack of respect for others and for the environment. What is needed is to re-educate people to take responsibility for their own actions and to also become more self-reliant in curing their own problems. I've seen too many people moan about the state of the area they live in, have the area smartened up at great expense by the council, only for the residents to trash it again in no time.
An example from one of the worst areas fo Dunfermline, Abbeyview: The council spent a small fortune re-furbishing some of the council flats, including fitting new electric heaters. Less than a day after letting the tennants back in one of them was caught selling the new electric heaters at a local market!

Scott

Scott