The litigious approach, imported from the United States and now enthusiastically adopted by the British, is invading all areas of life. Accidents which cause physical harm or damage to property or incidents that trigger emotional upset (real or perceived) or even merely hurt feelings are all seen now as fair game for a claim.

And there are plenty of lawyers only too keen to take on the cases in return for a substantial cut of any compensation that might result.

The growth in the litigation culture might be making winners of those who seek someone else to blame when they have an accident, as well as their legal representatives. However, fighting their claims is costing Bradford Council's taxpayers a small fortune that is needed to fund under-pressure public services.

The increase in claims for injuries by people who trip on the district's streets has risen in ten years from £600,000 to £2.5 million in 2004. Not all those claims will be met, of course, but contesting them will cost the Council an estimated £400,000 compared with £40,000 a decade ago.

Sometimes the authority is genuinely at fault. However, in many cases the mishap will have occurred simply because the claimant was not watching where he or she was walking but refuses to accept personal responsibility and sees the chance of making capital out of it.

The authority is right to have started playing tough with speculative claimants to show lawyers that the district isn't a soft touch. These frivolous claims, even if they fail, eat into Council resources as well as undermining genuine grievances.