WELLINGTON BOOTS

Today I'm returning to Chichester District Council where "the man in the street" is off limits. Within their little kingdom was a metal bin which fell into a stream (4 inces deep) and rubbish started to pour out. The vice-chairman, David Barnard, of Harting parish council rang the department at Chichester DC which dealt with fly-tipping. He was told they could do nothing as they had no-one "qualified to wear wellington boots". In the end the men of Harting PC did the job themselves. I didn't know it was possible to get a qualification in wellington boot wearing. Do shoe shops now ask for the diploma when you buy a pair or does the rule only apply to council/government workers.

PC LANGUAGE

Chichester District Council (in Sussex, a southern English county) have issued guidelines that staff should not use the phrase "the man in the street" as a way of indicating the average person. "General Public" is the preferred term according to the guide. "Manning the switchboard" should be superseded by "staffing the switchboard". Our local authorities have too much of our money to throw away on such projects and too short of important other things to do. Why not "de-man" the councils and let them find a proper job.