WE live in a world where more and more people contact a solicitor at the drop of a hat to see if they can sue for compensation.

Many professional people, notably doctors and dentists, have to pay out large sums of money in insurance premiums to protect themselves from legal action by disgruntled patients seeking damages.

Those who work with children have to be especially careful and we have seen some schools and youth groups abandon trips and outings under union pressure because of the potential risks involved.

It's a shame because the fears of professionals in such a compensation culture inevitably mean a lot of youngsters are denied what many see as some of the exciting and necessary experiences of growing up.

Today we see the latest example of this trend - a ban by some schools on children going out to pick up litter because of fears that they might pick up injuries or diseases from syringes, rusty cans or broken glass.

The irony, as the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign points out, is that children are often among the worst offenders in dropping litter in the first place and yet are being told, in effect, that someone else will clear up after them.

The schools taking sensible precautions but continuing to send pupils out to pick up litter are to be praised for making a stand against a culture that seeks to wrap children in cotton wool.