COUNCIL procedures, they can drive you up the wall sometimes - in my case, literally.

The entire office was stunned last Thursday when Trevor Fryer, the father of the four-year-old boy who died of meningitis, contacted us to say he was being charged double for a cemetery plot for his child because he was "a big lad for his age".

Initially we could hardly believe the story, but after speaking to Mr Fryer and copying the letter he had received spelling out the extra fee his family had to pay, our disbelief turned to amazement.

Nobody at the Argus could accept that any organisation could be so heartless and cruel when a family is facing such difficult times.

So, we approached Newhaven Town Council for their side of the story, fully expecting them to back down and issue an immediate apology.

But no. The council was firmly sticking to its guns and added insult to injury by claiming: "if we were really callous we would insist on charging for four plots".

Still, some stories have a predictable ending, and by Friday the council had decided to throw itself upon its sword, say sorry to the family and not charge the additional £33 they had been planning to because of Trevor Fryer's size.

That was big of them. I would have expected, in the circumstances and after all the additional grief they had caused the family, that the council could have scrapped their fees completely.

Luckily, although distraught, the Fryers had the sense to contact the paper. I wonder if their bill would ever have been reduced without the widespread anger their story generated.

TALKING about council procedures and being driven up the wall brings me to a far more trivial matter.

An anonymous looking letter, addressed To The Occupier, landed on my doormat the other day.

I'm often tempted to put post not addressed to me straight in the bin as I believe letters without names on may as well come addressed with "junk mail offers" written all over them.

Still, something got the better of me and I decided to open the envelope. How lucky I did.

It seems that somebody has decided to report me to the council for having a dangerous wall and the anonymous letter was an official warning instructing me to act immediately.

Don't get me wrong. If my wall needs repairing, although I had no idea before that letter that it did, I'll get the work done, even if I can think of a few people I would like it to fall on at the moment.

What annoyed me was the fact the letter wasn't addressed to me so, consequently, almost wasn't read by me.

My name is on the electoral role., I pay my council tax monthly by direct debit, but it seems that when the council needs to contact me I don't exist.

"We don't have time to check information like that" was the excuse I was given when I rang to find out what was going on.

It's lucky I have a better attitude than that, otherwise I might not have time to get the thing done.

It's enough to make you feel like banging your head against a wall.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.