From Geoff Dudley:-

SALLY Passmore made some very valid points in her letter (Mailbox, August 25th) about the dilemma at Thurstaston Hill at the time of the eclipse.

The reply from Inspector Simpson on the same page was predictably supportive of the police action in this matter and demonstrated, quite clearly, that flexibility is not on the agenda at Police Training College.

He also states that drivers "abandoned" their vehicles at Thurstaston. I am sure that the owners of those vehicles returned to them, at some stage, and drove them away. I therefore question Inspector Simpson's usage of vocabulary.

Could the desk sergeant not have explained to the complaining residents - exactly how many complaints were there? - that they would not be inconvenienced for very long and to be a little understanding?

I fear that Sally is the victim of a frightened and robotic police department who, themselves, are paranoid about sticking rigidly to the rules in this current climate of mass litigation and the resolution of petty grievances. Inspector Simpson's weak explanation bears this view out admirably.

It is not a good time for relaxed and free-spirited people, Sally.

Bidston Road, Oxton.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.