Oh Hell, What Have I done?

I should have known better than to get involved in an on-line discussion about smoking in public places. The story that really got my goat was here:
http://www.peterboroughnow.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2699349&SectionID=845

To summarise, a chap was enjoying a quiet smoke in Peterborough City Centre and stubbed out his fag butt on the ground. he was promptly accosted by several Council "Street Wardens" and issued a fixed-penalty notice of £50 for littering.

No big deal, I hear you say. The problem is that there are no bins in the centre that have a built-in ashtray, so disposing of the butt legally would probably start a bin fire! The gentleman also alleges that the wardens were circling him waiting to pounce and offered him no chance to pick up the offending butt.

Now, it's school holidays - the centre is packed with gangs of schoolkids , alkies, beggars and assorted riff-raff, which raised the questions:

What were the wardens doing going after a solitary smoker on his lunch-break?

Do we have so many patrolling Peterborough City Centre that several can be spared to fine man for a very minor offence? If so, why not deploy a few to some of Peterborough's other shopping centres. I know they could do with a few at the Orton Centre at the moment, which has become a "Hoodie's" paradise.

Anyway, I digress. I made a few of these points in reply to the article and also offered one or two forthright opinions of those who purport to be our public servants.

Oh dear. I underestimated the strength of opinion of the anti-smoking folk and received this reply...

In reply to Adam Warr: Your comment seems to pass responsiblility onto others to provide smoking facilities whilst at the same time complaining about a nanny state. If citizens do not take responsibility for their actions and surroundings then you will get a "nanny" state. Fact. And how is having visible environment wardens banning smoking by stealth exactly? It seems that your comment is basically soundbites you have collected from various media and regurgitated on this poor website. Please, if you criticise something you must provide a possible soltuion/remedy. Only in this way can citizens find new methods to solve social problems. As far as being fined for dropping a fag and complaining about a friend only getting a telling off after picking it up, why didn't fag-man pick his up? Please can Mr. Warr tell his friends to be more constructive alongside their critical rantings.

In reply, I was compelled to write:

Without wishing to extend the pro/anti-freedom debate on this noble forum, I can safely say that the opinions are mine alone and certainly not "sound-bites" from the right-wing press. The issue is balance and common sense which seems to be lacking from those who purport to be public servants. I'm all for visible street wardens and would like to see them more usefully employed than harassing an innocent smoker. I shall continue this debate on my Blog, with the URL available on request...

Quite balanced, I thought. I'm increasingly concerned about the gradual erosion of our freedoms by "public servants".

As for these rabid anti-smokers: I think that if some of these folk removed whatever they had stuck up their bumholes, they would be much happier people :-)