WITH regard to the controversy surrounding Anthony Daniels' feature in the Daily Mail, I would like to say what I would do to improve Blackpool's image. As the introduction of death squads on the streets is likely to meet with opposition, maybe less controversial ideas need to be considered.

I suppose the first and most obvious step towards improving the town's image, and provide some reassurance to the residents and holidaymakers alike, would be to at least double the presence of bobbies on the beat.

The recent advice of one Blackpool policeman, that no-one in Blackpool should walk the streets alone, is an outrageous admission of defeat and a clear message to the thugs and vermin who actually live in the town that they are free to beat and rob its law-abiding citizens and visitors to their hearts' content.

Many of these same sub-human parasites are the same ones who come here on holiday and decide to stay in one of the many DSS hostels that have sprung up here over the last few years.

Close down these colleges of crime immediately. Ship the low-life back to where they came from (no prizes for guessing where most of them come from) and turn these premises back into holiday accommodation. While on the subject of accommodation, let's make it clear to the "Club Blackpool" lot that the type of holidaymaker they wish to entice to our town is not the type we either want or need.

If it is not deemed financially prudent to dissuade the stag and hen night fraternity, then make damn sure that each of them registers their proper name and address (verifiable via local police 'tourism officers' perhaps) so that they can be immediately brought to book the next time they rape or batter someone.

The recent gang rape of a Blackpool woman shows the necessity of such a measure.

Pubs and bars selling ultra-cheap booze to already plastered morons? One violent incident on their premises and the licensee and/or brewery receive an official warning. A second violent incident within a specified timescale and they are closed down for a week. A third incident and that's it -- closed down PERMANENTLY! Licensees are as much to blame for the violence and anti-social behaviour in this town as the ignorant meatheads they serve their beer to.

Shopkeepers selling obscene t-shirts and paraphernalia should have to sign up to a council "decency charter" and close them down if they repeatedly ignore it!

Litter louts? -- string them up on the same lampposts that carry the penalty warnings about dropping litter! Okay, okay, perhaps that's a little extreme. Well, why not build some stocks on the Promenade and get local residents to throw the litter at the offenders instead?

Basically, what we need is "zero tolerance". We've had enough of our town being treated like it was some kind of huge toilet and it's time we got tough.

I wouldn't necessarily condone the setting up of vigilante organisations, but I wouldn't necessarily condemn them either. The council and police need to act now before such an idea becomes a necessary reality.

R.S. Whitehead,

Braithwaite Street,

Blackpool.