A POLICY of photographing children caught dropping litter has been defended by Sedgefield Borough Council.

The council's Kick the Litter Bug Campaign includes fixed penalty fines for children and adults found dropping rubbish and rewards for those picking up litter and using bins.

The council has come in for some criticism from parents for taking photographs of children, who have described the method as "sneaky".

But officers say all children from the schools involved were told about identification methods and the scheme was advertised widely.

Glyn Hall, director of housing and environmental health, said: "No individual student is targeted or followed and the local police station is notified when patrols are being carried out.

"The method used to identify students involves photographing any student committing a littering offence or displaying responsible citizenship. The school then identifies the students and their parents or guardians are contacted."

He said the method was introduced with the full approval of the police and schools and added the enforcement officer can only approach children if accompanied by a teacher or police officer.

"Any procedures involving children are emotive, however, I believe that this method of identifying students is lawful and is undertaken in a responsible and professional manner by the officer concerned," he added.

"It is not dissimilar to the use of Sedgefield Borough Council's CCTV system, road safety cameras or hand-held cameras used by the police for large gatherings of people."

The scheme, which has been running at Woodham Comprehensive in Newton Aycliffe, and Shildon Sunnydale, has resulted in the amount of litter on the school routes being halved. It is hoped to extend it to all borough secondary schools.