It will be interesting to see how Government ministers respond to Tony Egginton's suggestion, made after members of the new Mercian Regiment, back from service in Afghanistan, paraded through the town last week.

It's our guess that his letter will receive a polite, yet firm, 'No' in response. It will be seen as impracticable, too expensive and probably too Draconian.

What a pity if this turns out to be the case. It ought to be a worth a trial, just to see if the Army can make a positive impression on these dropouts and no-hopers when everything else clearly fails.

But even if the Mayor doesn't get his way on this issue, perhaps the powers-that-be will be sympathetic to his other call for children to be given time off school to attend home-coming parades for our troops so they can gain a better understanding of what being a serviceman or woman entails. And, more importantly, the debt that is owed them by us all.

Who knows, it could even inspire a few more youngsters, who might otherwise be tempted to go off the rails, to join up themselves and earn deserved respect.