Slowly, step by step, ordinary people and the authorities are getting their acts together to confront crime and anti-social behaviour. Two moves in that direction are highlighted in T&A stories today.

The new scheme which will see "street wardens" operating in Bradford to help the police maintain law and order has now got the go-ahead, and recruiting is about to begin. Although the chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation has expressed serious reservations about it and would prefer to see the special constabulary expanded instead, it is to be hoped that the police and the wardens will quickly be able to establish a good working relationship.

Between them the wardens and the extra uniformed officers who are now patrolling the city centre have a real opportunity to improve the quality of life for residents and visitors alike and give Bradford's morale an important boost.

The war against crime is not confined to the city centre, though. The fightback is also taking place in the outlying towns and villages like Silsden, where the killing of a duck has proved to be the last straw, prompting the Business Watch scheme to come up with an excellent proposal to "name and shame" local thugs and vandals, display their photographs publicly, and bar them from pubs, clubs and shops.

For too long the louts and lawbreakers have been allowed to set the agenda and get away with it. It is time society registered its disapproval of their behaviour not just by outraged mutterings but by ostracising them as well as co-operating fully with the police to bring them to justice.