The campaign against people who throw their rubbish from cars has got off to an impressive start, with 136 on-the-spot £50 fines handed out since January by the rapid-response team of enforcement officers set up by Bradford Council. The team of 13 officers have also issued 144 notices to residents and businesses who failed to clear rubbish from their land and are prosecuting nine people for litter and fly-tipping offences.

They deserve a pat on the back for tackling the problem so zealously. If they go on at this rate surely the message must start to get across to those who throw their litter about that Bradford will no longer put up with that sort of behaviour. Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, the Council's executive member for the environment, says that keeping the district's roads and neighbourhoods clean is a top priority. It is right that it should be. A clean district is good for both morale and image.

It is encouraging that the Bradford public appear to be entering into the campaign with the same enthusiasm as the enforcement team, lodging more than 1,200 complaints over the last four months. And that figure is bound to grow as the team's reputation spreads.

Mind you, there is plenty to complain about. The litter statistics for Bradford are barely believable: 11,800 tonnes of rubbish picked up by the street-cleaning team in the last 12 months; 4,900 fly-tipping sites cleared; 2,500 abandoned cars removed.

Dealing with the mess created by the minority is a massive, ongoing task. The new enforcement officers have already demonstrated that they have the ability to make a significant contribution to it.