offence. Islington Council have
withdrawn the fine and apologised,
promising to recycle their recycling
policy.
Meanwhile, police in Leicestershire had
to ask Oadby council to end their trial
project which switched off street lights
after midnight. Since the cash-saving
measure was introduced, burglars are
reported to have raided 27 homes in the
darkened streets in the space of one
month. However, while the council has
switched the street lights back on
overnight until January when a review
will be undertaken, councillors deny the
spike in break-ins was related to the
policy. Highways councillor Blake Pain
said they had worked closely with the
police throughout the “part-night
project.”
At Haye in Cornwall, the local council
have recently painted new double yellow
lines on a quiet residential street after a
new patch of tarmac was laid following
work on a gas main. The lines are two
feet (60 centimetres) long. The road
previously was painted with double
yellows but they have completely faded
away, but, following orders, a council
worker (only doing his job, guv) turned
up to replace one tiny section of them.
Coventry, too, has been baffled by the
appearance of two sets of double yellow
lines along each side of a paved alley
which is just over six feet (1.2 metres)
wide. Even if a driver could get a car into
that space, the doors couldn’t be opened
to get out. Coventry City co uncil say the
road is private and deny having painted
the lines.
Boys in Blue and Yellow
During last month, officers from
Detroit’s 12th Police Precinct decided to
stage a raid on the city’s Andover district,
which is a notoriously drug-heavy area,
by posing undercover as dealers with the
intention of nicking any buyers who
approached them. And the ploy worked.
Buyers quickly turned up and started
talking to them ... before drawing their
weapons and ordering the officers to the
ground. The buyers were actually
undercover cops from the 11th Precinct
who were trying to nick dealers.
The rest of the 12th Precinct Special
Operations team then arrived and began
raiding a suspected drug dealer’s house,
but instead of helping them catch a
suspect, a fight ensured between the
“dealers” and the “buyers”. The Detroit
Police Department has opened an
internal investigation.
27
When Conrad Bennett’s car broke down
in Guildford last month, he pulled into a
nearby council car park to find out why
smoke was issuing from the engine.
Enter a trusty employee of Waverley
Borough Council to investigate. When
Mr Bennett explained he had a problem
with his Reliant Robin, the council
worker, instead of offering help, slapped
a £50 fine on the vehicle and wandered
off merrily wishing Mr Bennett a
“Happy Christmas!”
Mr Bennett was understandably miffed
but the Council upheld their employee’s
decision and has told him to challenge
the fine if he feels ill done by. Mr
Bennett’s comments on the warden’s
attitude are not printable.
Only in ...
... Alabama where a jury has decided that
the Army veteran who broke his hip
while picking out a watermelon at a
Walmart store should receive $7.5
million. Henry Walker went shopping
there in June 2015 and as he reached for
the watermelon, his foot got stuck in the
side of a wooden pallet under the
display. He fell and shattered his hip,
then sued Walmart for negligence and
Continued overleaf