SPY CAMERAS are to be used to target people dropping cigarettes, chewing gum and litter in Blackburn town centre.

Blackburn with Darwen Council will use its network of 48 CCTV cameras and a mobile camera van to catch people and then issue £70 fines.

Images from the CCTV of people dropping cigarettes, chewing gum and food will be singled out on billboards around the town warning others of the consequences of their actions.

The scheme was welcomed by Keep Britain Tidy campaign but smoker's lobby group, Forest, said the council was abusing technology originally designed to catch muggers and rapists.

And Human rights group, Liberty, said the move was excessive.

But council bosses said litter was a top priority for the people of the borough and hoped that the high-profile poster campaign would educate people, minimising those dropping litter and therefore being caught by the system.

The scheme, which forms part of the Thrash the Trash campaign, starts next month.

It follows similar moves in cities like Peterborough and Liverpool.

Coun Mohammed Khan, executive member for neighbourhood services, said: "When we ask people what they want the council to do, they always say clean the streets.

"The council is meeting that obligation, but the public have a responsibility too."

He said as well as conventional litterbins in the town centre, the council provided specialists recepticals for chewing gum and cigarette ends.

"If they don't use the bins, anyone can report them for their offence and it will be investigated."

The council and police are due to take delivery of the hi-tech £45,000 CCTV van this week.

The van, which is coated in high-visibilty paint, features a telescopic camera that can bend round walls to take top quality images.

Bosses hope that as the van is driven round it will catch litter louts and it will also be parked at litter hot-spots.

The van will also be used by the police to record other anti-social behaviour and law breaking when it is not being used by the council to catch litter louts.

A spokesman for Forest, said: "Using CCTV to catch people dropping litter is not what most people thought it would be used for. It seems like an abuse of technology to use something was was designed to catch muggers and rapists."

She said the council should concentrate on providing more bins and public ash trays.

Gareth Crossman, director of policy for Liberty, said: "Putting up posters naming and shaming people for dropping litter is a waste of resources and frankly excessive."

Chiefs stressed that the fixed cameras would not be tracking people, but would pick up people dropping litter as they scanned across the town.

The camera network is operated by officials working for the police and the council from the police headquarters at Greenbank, Whitebirk, Blackburn.

A spokesman for the Keep Britain Tidy campaign said that surveys revealed that many people admitted they dropped litter if they thought no one was looking.

"Provided the deterrent goes with education. Keep Britain Tidy has no problems with this."

He said cigarette butts and chewing gum were not bio-degrable and even items like apple cores were a problem as they could attract rats.