Nonsense to end all nonsense at Stoke on Trent City Council, as residents at council flats in the city will now be convening to discuss the ‘door mat’ ban with elected members.
It was reported a couple of weeks ago that the council had decided to ban door mats due to their posing a ‘health and safety risk’. This caused a furore in the local and national press, and obviously with occupants who recognised the new rules as utter claptrap, dreamt up by bureaucrats who appear to reside on Button Moon, entirely detached from the real world and probably petrified of their own shadows.
Now, predictably, time, effort and money will be wasted raking over the finer details of the regulation which also specifies that pot plants, carpets and other personal items should be removed from porches lest they might prove obstructive during an emergency.
The council don’t, however, have any jurisdiction over the inside of the flats and whatever hurdles they may hold so the operation to create a clearance can only extend so far. It all seems so very pointless…
Isabella Hulme, aged 61, said: 'I had a hanging basket, a coffee table, a plant and carpet in my porch.
'I've had to remove it all and now the floor is left with carpet glue, which is even more of a trip hazard.'
Stoke on Trent City Council are exposed all too frequently for wasting their efforts on fads and silly rules like this when they should be focusing on providing services and value for money. It’ll be interesting to monitor just how long this rumbles on for and how far they’re prepared to push this petty rule which flies in the face of the common sense we’ve all grown up with.