World Notes BRITAIN

Sidewalks littered with rotting garbage and crumpled packaging. Roadsides strewn with sodden mattresses, broken chairs and abandoned supermarket carts. Concluded a report by Britain's Royal Fine Art Commission last week: "London has become dirty, degrading and depressing."

The commission attributed the filth in the British capital to a lack of personal discipline on the part of its 6.8 million inhabitants, and targeted everything from fast-food establishments to dog owners as contributors to the squalor. It went on to suggest 120 ways for London to clean up its act. Among them: bigger litter bins, special cleanup crews to swoop in and clear out debris, and rebates on civic garbage-collection fees in exchange for cleaner sidewalks.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher immediately threw her support behind the proposals. If the mess is not tackled voluntarily, she said, the government will seek tougher laws to do so.