I SUPPOSE a good few of your readers will, from time to time, have been reminded that idiotic behaviour is not an entirely new phenomena, as was my experience on Saturday morning while walking through the town centre and witnessing a group having fun with that old chestnut and never ending source of hilarity for half wits, "the stink bomb".

Well there you go, some things just stand the test of time. I suppose, where there is a demand, there will be someone prepared to supply; and it would seem in this case those doing the supplying are some of the town centre's numerous "one pound" emporiums.

Then it occurred to me that the little silver stink bomb wrappers strewn all over the precinct floor must surely constitute litter, and any perpetrators of this timeless peccadillo would, if apprehended, receive a fine.

So, it just requires one of our eagle-eyed town centre managers to catch one or two of the stink bombers littering the pavements - not to mention shops - and the message can be driven home with a couple of fines.

Or perhaps one of Bolton Council's nameless spokespersons could pay a visit to the shop selling these items of nostalgic nonsense, and ask them, in the interest of public spiritedness, to please stop it. They might want to offer the shop owners a star for doing the right thing - or even three stars.

Who knows, as I write this letter, Town Hall executives might very well be creating the post of Stink Bomb Dispersal Officer.

Anthony Backhouse

Mossfield Court

Bolton