ridiculous!
Police train to climb 3ft ladderPolice officers have been sent on a courses to learn how to climb a 3ft ladder to put up anti-speeding devices.
Forty-five staff at Lancashire Police had to complete a two-hour seminar before they were allowed to install roadside speeding signs. The class included guidance on how to use a ladder safely.
The devices - smiley-face speed indicator signs (Spids) - were being put up freely by staff before health and safety officers from the local council told the force that they were breaching regulations. Some staff were banned from even moving existing signs until they had attended the seminar. Several of the £3,500 devices were left dormant for up to four months as a result.
A police statement, which was issued as part of a Freedom of Information request, said: "It would appear that, although working at less than one metre above ground level, staff should have been on a ladder training course. "It is fair to say that risks associated with deployment of a Spid sign have not changed, but the risks associated with working at height were not fully appreciated initially."
Ben Wallace, the MP for Lancaster and Wyre, said: "It's another example of the tail wagging the dog, of bureaucracy gone mad. It beggars belief that bureaucracy stands in the way of common sense, even when it concerns our police force."
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