When the Government announced a year ago that the South Downs were

to become a national park, it was the best news to reach these beautiful hills for half a century.

Now it seems the Downs will have to wait another four years before the designation is complete.

The Countryside Agency is taking its time going through the bureaucratic process and supporters of the status are getting worried.

There is a danger that all sorts of unsuitable development could be built on the fringes of the Downs before proper protection is given to them.

Boundaries badly need sorting out for the national park. It's a long time since the original area of outstanding natural beauty was declared. There will have to be some changes.

The pinch points are mainly around Brighton, the biggest town on the Sussex coast, where development pressure is greatest.

But the council's Local Plan makes it clear that Falmer, where the Albion stadium is planned, is just about the only area where development should be allowed.

There's no need for the Agency to take four years to do the job. It should cut through the red tape and designate the park as quickly as possible.

Playing with fire Mock cigarettes have been a staple joke among schoolchildren for at least half a century.

But mothers in Portslade who found their children buying the fake fags failed to find them amusing.

They fear the realistic cigarettes could encourage children to take up the real thing later in life.

It's unlikely the youngsters regarded the toys as anything more than a harmless bit of fun, but times have changed.

Now that we know what cigarettes can do to people's health, most people don't find fake fags funny any more.

Follow that van When a man who didn't fancy walking home from the pub in Pevensey Bay decided to hitch a lift, he clambered into trouble.

For the security van he had chosen to cling on to sped miles past his home followed by anxious police officers.

Cold and tired, the man was dropped off in a dark lane, but was taken home by police for his own good.

He was an unusual cargo for the security firm, but in the end he was delivered to the right place safely.