[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

i wonder if any of this has anything to do with the police not being able to give ' clips round the ear ' for minor misdemeanors , i for one know if a bobbie saw me do summat wrong i would be in for a damned sight worse time when he told me dad

I am sure that this is the case. When I was a child the people who would dole out punishment would in the main be your parents and older relatives, teachers and the local "bobby". You might get the occasional clip round the ear from others that caught you misbehaving such as neighbours who caught you nicking apples from their tree. You learnt who you had to respect and what behaviour was right or wrong.

Back in "the good old days" though the local police were either on foot or on their bikes, rarely ever in a police car and tended to know most people in their beat area. Nowadays they are nearly always in a police car except in town centres.