Ever tried ringing Sussex Police to report a crime or even something suspicious?

It's basically a futile exercise unless you dial 999 and then you run the risk of having your knuckles rapped if it's not deemed an emergency.

Needless to say the police in this county are stretched and underfunded, which makes it all the more puzzling why they have adopted such high-profile and strong-arm tactics over Worthing's two cannabis cafes.

Just how many police man hours and funding is being used up every time one of the cafs receives a high-profile raid?

I appreciate "wacky baccy" has not been decriminalised but surely there are a lot worse things going on in and around in the town.

If these people, all consenting adults, who are frequenting the said establishments are merely doing so for recreational use, is it that big a hardship in turning a blind eye?

In the grand scheme of things, perhaps the police ought to keep tabs on the amount of supermarkets and off-licences that appear to be prepared to sell alcohol and cigarettes to anyone who merely has enough money, regardless of age?

Who causes the most trouble in this town, drunken teenagers or a few ageing chilled-out hippies?

As the song goes, "You know that Santa's on his way", although now it's basically because every other advert on the telly is for toys -

usually expensive ones where the price is flashed up right at the end in the corner of the screen.

Needless to say the Hart children have submitted their lists to go to Lapland in anticipation of full stockings next Wednesday.

And while I know nostalgia is very much a thing of the past, when it comes to toyshops in Worthing, clearly things were better in the old days.

Reminiscing the other day, I recalled four independent toyshops in the town from the Sixties and Seventies. There was the Card and Toy Centre in South Street, Tarring; Milldowns in Goring Road and Merediths up at Broadwater.

I was racking my brains for the name of the one opposite the Golden Lion by Durrington station but couldn't recall it so if anyone can help, please email me.

As a young boy these shops were a joy to visit - they seemed to have everything. But having gone toy shopping with both of my youngsters for the last few years, I don't think Worthing has anything to touch them.

It's all so boring now. Gamleys is a pale shadow of its former self, Woolies is just Woolies, Smiths gave up the ghost years ago and Debenhams and Beales barely go through the motions.

Wouldn't it be nice, with the amount of empty shops in Worthing, to see by this time next year a new traditional independent toyshop trading again?

But, then again, that's coming from someone who still believes in Father Christmas!

It's somewhat ironic that one of the most elaborately-decorated Worthing seafront hotels is the one whose guests are predominantly Eastern European asylum seekers 52 weeks of the year. I wonder if the December payments from the DSS included an Christmas bonus to help finance the lights and tinsel?