It Is Not Easy To Set Alight a Van

But, fear not, the people of Levenshulme have good skills and will rise to such a challenge no bother.

Last night I was woken up by the sound of a fire engine about 30 yards from my bedroom window extinguishing the handiwork of Levenshulme's finest.

Ironically, this followed my efforts in the community front earlier in the day by organising a screening of the environmentally-conscious film WALL-E at a local primary school. I personally applied for a cash grant from the city council for this event, thinking it would be a good thing to do when the kids are bored during school holidays. The sponsporship enabled us to throw in a nice buffet for everyone afterwards.

Speaking to the Police Community Support Officer this morning who knocked on my door to ask if I had seen anything, I wanted to know if it was just a random act of vandalism. "We're treating it as such" the PCSO replied.

Yesterday's lessons are two-fold:

- yes, the kids ARE bored during school holidays

- no, organising an event will not make a blind bit of difference because it's all the good kids who come, the bad ones will be out and about trying to get their hands on petrol and other supplies required for a succesfull van-cum-bonfire.