A WARDEN may be employed to help combat litter, dog fouling and graffiti in the Studley and Alcester areas.

At a meeting of parish and town council representatives last week, it was decided to investigate using new powers given to councils to employ a warden to dish out on-the-spot fines.

Parish councils were recently handed the powers by the Government.

If the initiative is taken up, it is possible Studley, Alcester and Bidford may all join forces to employ a warden.

Studley parish clerk Dot Mitchell said: "We are going to investigate the feasibility of employing somebody.

"We in Studley are keen to look at this because of the problems we have, so we'll consult people and see what happens."

Studley Parish Council is also looking at recruiting volunteers to patrol the village on the look-out for other antisocial behaviour.

Anything that was spotted would then be reported to the police immediately.

The village has suffered a spate of nuisance behaviour recently.

At a meeting with new sector commander Nav Malik last week, the parish council expressed its interest in setting up such a scheme to him.

Mrs Mitchell said Insp Malik cautiously welcomed the idea, as long as the volunteers did not confront rowdy youths and cause even more of a scene.

The parish council will shortly be sending out leaflets requesting volunteers for the scheme.