A community minded bunch of citizens in Normanton, Derbyshire got together some years ago to pick up litter in the streets of their town, in the perceived absence of any significant desire to do so by their local authority. The latter, perhaps feeling a little embarrassed, offered them some litter picking implements to assist them in their public spirited endeavours. Now they have been told that they are not allowed to use them after all, until they have been trained in the arcane art of operating what are basically long handled tongs. The great God Health and Safety has decreed that should one of the human pickers injure themselves while using the tongs there could be legal ramifications. Once again the combination of ludicrous regulations and ambulance-chasing lawyers is sufficient to paralyse an endeavour that common sense (remember that?) would decree to be fairly basic and hardly worthy of provoking forensic scrutiny to eliminate the 0.00001% chance of injury. As one of the worthy citizens pointed out, when told that the paralysis was caused by the fact that the council concerned had supplied the litter picker-uppers, the council also supplied all the population with wheelie bins everyone operates on a weekly basis without any training at all. Surely there are more likely to be injuries dragging a bulky and laden bin down to the end of the drives, roads and lanes of Derbyshire than walking along with a pair of four foot tweezers?

What worries me is that for every citizen who views the ritual dance with the same astonishment as I do, there will be a public sector employee who has been so inculcated with the defensive operational mentality as to see nothing wrong with this tale.

It is up to the legislature and judiciary to crowbar some much needed common sense back into our lives. To acknowledge that not all accidents carry fault or blame. It is, I am delighted to observe, happening with insurance companies who are much more ready to fight the spurious whiplash claims that accompany countless minor shunts on our roads. Paying out to save the expense of litigation in the past has resulted in claims escalating (being seen as a nice little earner) costing them millions and they’re finally starting to tackle the problem. Let’s hope the pendulum swings back soon.