MRS Mann was totally inconsolable on Tuesday morning after returning from the newsagent with her copy of Midweek under her arm.

I don't believe I have seen her so upset since Elvis passed away.

Apparently, those animal rights people who have set up stall outside the town centre Tesco store for the past five years or so were told to pack up and move on by police officers last week. For goodness sake, what on earth is the world coming to? The news was like something from that awful television drama Heartbeat with wise old bobbies taking local people in hand.

Mrs Mann slammed the newspaper down on the sideboard and even cursed under her breath. I fear she may chain herself to the outside of High Wycombe Police Station in protest at what she sees as the force's over-zealous attitude.

I must say I am totally supportive of the police force, which is one of the most effective and honourable in the world and still does not generally need to carry guns in order to carry out its excellent work.

However, I must admit, that on this rare occasion, I am in agreement with my wife. Although I cannot comprehend their dedication to a cause such as animal welfare, I have to admire the fact that these people do such work, unpaid, week-after-week, in a polite manner and have done so for the past five years, collecting more than 30,000 tins of pet food for local charities.

Most people who have had the misfortune of having to go into High Wycombe town centre would have encountered these people. In my opinion, none of them are causing offence, none of them are threatening or obstructing the highway; in fact they are part of the disappearing colour of High Wycombe, which is slowly being turned into a sterile, modern, landscape with the entertainment created by paid-for artistes rather than the real 'characters' which make a town.

If anything in this town is criminal, it is the concrete bollards which cause obstruction. Perhaps police officers would like to spend their valuable time moving these eyesores on.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.