Just like many other politically-minded local residents who have resided here for the past ten years, I am amazed by the response of Brighton and Hove City Council to many of the problems affecting us.

With the recent announcement that carbon emissions in Brighton are the highest anywhere in the country, I find it amusing smokers are being targeted as the primary cause of air pollution with new anti-smoking bylaws.

Under them, anyone caught smoking in a pub or club would be liable to a £50 fine issued by a "smokers' policeman".

As our near-lawless streets are crying out for more officers, if there is any money available for apprehending these "tobacco villains", it might be better spent preventing real crimes.

Instead of banning smoking, these new bylaws should insist that public establishments install air conditioning to dispel any noxious impurities, so satisfying the smoker and non-smoker alike. This would be a far simpler and healthier solution than bringing more draconian dictates into the equation.

This course of action might be the only way of escaping the car fumes of the "poisonous outdoors", as I can't foresee the council banning cars from our streets in any significant numbers - not least because the motorist is a major provider to the city by way of fines.

With a £6 million surplus resulting from these penalties recently announced, maybe this windfall should be invested in helping finance public places which provide people with clean air not found on the streets.

But what do I know? I'm just a carless smoker.

Sour grapes, you might say. Not at all - just a sensible suggestion from someone who cannot understand why this blinkered council, given the chance to do something positive for a change, prefers to wield another big stick.

Maybe someday, I'll meet a councillor who can rationally explain the reason why it continually does the opposite of what the general public would call sensible.

-Dave Spear, Hove