I witnessed an interesting discussion last week between a police officer and a homeless man who he was trying to wake up. It was the middle of the afternoon and the man in question was doing nothing more than catching a few winks in the sun on a bench in New Road, Brighton, when he was somewhat rudely interrupted by the police officer.

The man protested with regard to which specific law he was supposed to be breaking. The policeman could not quote the law straight off although he assured the man that what he was doing was illegal. At this point I asked him if he was sure about that and he said he would phone his office to clarify the point. Following a rather lengthy conversation with his boss he turned to the man to apologise as there is no law banning snoozing in public.

Two things strike me about this incident. Firstly, that someone doing such a responsible job seems to have no grasp of the basic laws of the land. Secondly, it would seem that New Road is only a shared space for certain people.

If what you are doing there is not what "normal" people do then you are apparently not wanted.

  • James Stephenson, Marine Parade, Brighton