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On tonight's programme I report on how the Police are using cars rigged with cameras and other high-tech gear to catch thieves. It seems to work - car crime in West Yorkshire fell by a fifth during the six months it was being tried out.

I reckon most people would reckon it was a pretty reasonable way to get convictions for often very persistent criminals and it is just one way that the Police are making use of new technology.

You've probably heard of Automatic Number Plate Recognition - cameras that can read number plates and then check them against Police databases to see if the cars are wanted for any reason.  Again, it sounds pretty innocuous doesn't it?

What I didn't realise was just how widespread the technology is.  A couple of weeks ago I was filming with the Police for another One Show item.  The patrol car we were in had a camera fixed to the rear window.  It turns out it was also part of the ANPR system. 

Sure enough, within a couple of minutes we'd clocked a couple of cars driving without tax.  What astonished me was that all the data it collects goes back to the databases and is stored for 5 years.  And I mean all the data - every single car!

And what's more there are now thousands of ANPR capable cameras.  Most of our towns and cities now have ANPR cameras on all main roads. When the network is complete it will record up to 50m number plates a day.

Think what that means.  Every time you pass one of these cameras there is a record.  If you drive from Leicester to Manchester, say, you might pass tens or even hundreds of them.

There's no question that this is really powerful technology for the police.  A number of murders have been solved because they could show that the murderer was near where the victim was picked up or where the body was dumped. 

The question is whether the benefits outweigh the costs. Do you think technology like this means we are living in a surveillance society, that Big Brother is watching us?  Alternatively do you think that anything that can help the Police catch murderers and other criminals has to be worth having?

Can't see the film? Click here to watch it.

On the programme tonight I advised One Show viewers to recognise what a bloated consumer nightmare Christmas has become. 

We all have to stop giving presents and start giving to charity instead, and here's why...

I've got a Christmas confession. My three daughters get so many presents at Christmas that, once the celebrations are over, my wife and I collect up the ones we don't like and give them to the local charity shop.

There you go, I've said it.  We steal our own children's Christmas presents!

It sounds awful but I don't think it makes me Scrooge because - let's be honest here - most presents are rubbish. 

My kids just get loads more "stuff" than they've already got each year  - from bears and dolls to necklace kits and fancy clothes and more.

What's more we live in a small house and if we didn't chuck out some of their gifts we would be engulfed in a tsunami of tat.

Now if you're still not persuaded I'm doing the right thing then here's what I hope will be the clincher - the kids don't even notice. 

That's right, they've got so much stuff already, they don't notice when we half inch their new toys.

So why this festive frankness, you are probably wondering? 

Well, my argument is this: if my children don't notice when we nick their presents then the chances are that you can probably do without most of yours too. 

A few decades ago you probably needed the socks that your mum gave you or the saucepan Auntie Alice popped under the tree.  These days it is different.  Consumer goods are so cheap and plentiful that all of us - children included - have tons of stuff.

So here's my Christmas message:  just say no to this glut of giving. 

I'm not saying no presents at all. If you want to mark the season why not make a donation to charity on behalf of your friends and loved ones instead? 

Think about it.  A good cause gets your cash AND both you and your loved ones get to feel good about it!  It's the Christmas gift that just goes on giving.

You know it makes sense...don't you?

Can't see the film? Click here to watch.

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Dog attacks are on the rise. Hospitals say they've seen a significant increase in the number of attacks and the Metropolitan Police report they are called out to deal with dangerous dogs more often. So what can be done to deal with the danger? 

A few weeks ago Claire Lambert's two year old son Maurice was attacked by a pit-bull in a London Park. Here she describes what happened and how she believes our streets and parks might be made safe.

Claire Lambert:

On the afternoon of Saturday 4th October 2008, I watched my children play as I sat on a bench soaking up the autumn sun. 

Suddenly a large pit-bull ran in to the playground and straight over to my children.  My oldest son saw the dog and ran away, but Maurice, who is two and a half, didn't. The dog grabbed him by the leg and shook him like he was a rag doll. The world seemed to go into slow motion. Everyone was screaming but I could make out Maurice's high pitched wail. Although I was only a few metres away it seemed to take an eternity to reach him. I knew the dog might turn on me but I grabbed it by the collar and managed to wrestle it away from my son. As I held him in my arms I felt something warm and wet on my leg. I remember hoping that he'd wet himself, but when I looked down I could see blood seeping through his jeans.

I pulled up his trousers to see that his leg had been ripped apart.

He had two long wide gashes that had flesh hanging out of them. I started screaming for someone to call an Ambulance, and as I sat on the bench waiting for it to arrive I could see my eldest son crying and asking if his brother was going to die. Maurice was in the hospital for five days.  The dog had ripped through his tendons. He needed to have two operations, 40 stitches and he still has his leg in plaster. He will be scarred for life physically, and probably emotionally. And even taking all this in to consideration, medical staff told us how lucky Maurice was not to have been bitten on his face, hands or throat.

Perhaps the next time a pit-bull bites a child. They won't be as lucky. So now I am left wondering how we make sure this never happens again? 

I am a dog lover. My family kept dogs all the time I was growing up. In an ideal world all dog owners would be responsible, as my family were. But forget it, they're not. The owner of the dog which attacked Maurice, is still convinced it isn't dangerous. It is clear the current law doesn't work. The problem is, if you have a set of rules which only apply to certain breeds, then they are very difficult to police. 

So here's what I propose. It seems to me the only solution is to have all dogs on leads unless in designated dog exercise areas. This is the system they have in the US and Scandinavia.  It is easy to police and will be effective in making our parks and pavements safe. I know that many dog owners will be reading this now and shaking their heads in disgust at my suggestion. But please, tell me, what other realistic solution is there? 

Should all dogs be on leads, as Claire suggests? Should we ban certain breeds of dog? Or make a dog ownership test compulsory? How do we stop dog attacks?

Have your say in the comment box, below. The best comments may be mentioned on The One Show, so please add your first name and location to your comment if you'd like to be mentioned on the programme.

I've got a question for you and I want you to be honest. How many of your neighbours do you know? What about their names? 

If you know more than five you are doing really well because research shows that fewer than half of us can name between one and five of our neighbours.  That's right, most people don't even know five neighbours names!

That didn't come as a surprise to us at The One Show because when we asked about neighbourly spirit on the programme we were inundated with emails from people saying their area had changed for the worse and that people are less friendly than they used to be.

Well, here on The One Show we like to provide answers to problems so I've been looking at ways we can make our neighbourhoods a bit more - well - neighbourly.

I've visited the village of Shotley in Suffolk where they've been running a good neighbour scheme for three years.

It's a simple idea.  Neighbours agree to put a couple of hours aside each week to help out other people in the area: driving someone to a hospital appointment maybe, or clipping an elderly person's hedge - whatever needs doing.

What struck me most is not how much good work the volunteers in Shotley have been doing - though that was impressive - it was more how much they all seemed to enjoy it. 

So here's what I want to know - do you think a Good Neighbour scheme would work in your area and - more importantly - would you be willing to get involved? Or you happier keeping yourself to yourself?