Yesterday a council instructed a community-aware couple not to tend to a grass verge by their house because it prevented council staff from ‘monitoring’ when it needed to be cut. Today Oakley and Deane Parish Council have ordered residents not to feed the ducks because, and I never knew this, apparently feeding the ducks “puts a strain on the entire eco-system”. So those few out-of-date slices of bread you take to the pond to feed the ducks with is creating a catastrophic imbalance in the local environment. Who’d have thought? Though, tell me if I'm wrong, but it's beginning to sink in that meddling officials in local government aren't performing a public service as such, but are turning into an annoying public nuisance.