Convicts’ clean start

I WROTE to the Probation Service suggesting that the ‘lags’ residing in our prisons, at great expense to us taxpayers, be formed into gangs to carry out litter clearance.

I was told in no uncertain terms that these young, fit prisoners could not be given such tasks unless there were catering and toilet facilities.

It was considered too dangerous for them to pick up litter in case there were sharp or unmentionable items that ‘may harm them’.

Meanwhile, it seems quite OK for pensioners like me to walk along narrow country roads where there are no footpaths and pick up rubbish, getting cold and wet, while these layabouts can remain in the warm with three meals a day.

offering a shorter sentence if prisoners took part in such tasks seems like a good idea and perhaps might give them a sense of pride.

JANET COPE, Aylesbury, Bucks.