How was it, the thought was proffered, that it was only taxi drivers who had had their vehicles damaged?

Might not the cause of the problem be the manner in which the taxis were being driven over the humps, not the height of the humps themselves, it was suggested.

Mr Pendle has no personal experience of bad driving by taxi drivers – on the contrary, on the occasions he has had cause to use a taxi, he has always been driven in a perfectly safe manner.

But the fact the drivers are the only people who have aired their concerns publicly is enough to make Mr Pendle and his friends wonder if the fault lies with them, and not the speed humps.

A NEW scheme unveiled by the Government which gives certain civilians the power to hand out fines for littering, seize alcohol from underage drinkers and demand the names and addresses of those who are anti-social has come under fire from the Police Federation.

And Mr Pendle agrees wholeheartedly.

Under the scheme, any organisation involved in community safety, be it an NHS Trust, a housing association or private security company, for example, can ask for its employees to have additional powers.

As well as the above offences, these new "civilian cops" will also be given the powers to issue fines for truancy, rowdiness, graffiti, dog fouling and riding bikes on pavements.

But who will train these people? Who will monitor whether the firms employing them act in an appropriate manner?

And what happens – as is very likely – when an alleged offender puts two fingers up to his accoster, tells him what he can do with his fine and punches him on the nose?

Surely it would be far better to have real police on the streets rather than some form of policing on the cheap?

That is, after all, what we pay our taxes for.


THE public library has for years been a place where someone could go if they wanted a little bit of peace and quiet.

A place which was noise-free and where one could sit and read in silence knowing they would not be disturbed.

Not any more, though.

Alarmed at falling library membership, the Society of Chief Librarians is saying people should be allowed to use mobile phones, play computer games, bring in food and drink and – heaven forbid – watch football matches in libraries in future.

Have we really got so desperate we have to show a game of football on television to get people into a library?