TOO much valuable police time has had to be spent on paperwork rather than on-the-street policing in the past few years.

Police themselves are the first to acknowledge that the increased complexity of various legislative and procedural demands has meant them having to fill in all kinds of forms following arrests.

And that's one of the reasons why enabling police to issue on-the-spot fixed penalty-style fines for a whole series of offences is a good idea.

Since a trial began in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale in February it is estimated that 300 hours of officer time has already been saved.

Now the fines are to be introduced in Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley too.

The new system allows £40 fines to be imposed for various loutish offences involving drink and drunkenness and £80 fines for others like wasting police time, making false alarm calls and throwing fireworks.

By hitting the pocket fast the new penalties should have a more immediate impact in deterring yobs than the cautions they replace. Cautions can too easily be viewed by offenders as the soft option and a let off.

And they should quickly help to stop drunken hooligans taking over too many of our town centres in the evenings so that people can enjoy nights out without having to worry about violence and yobs.