It beggars belief the City of Westminster in all its wisdom could snub Bradley Wiggins and his achievements.

How many Britons have won three gold medals in a summer Olympics since the war? Answer: five.

Just for the record they are Sir Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, equestrian star Richard Meade, Cycling pal Chris Hoy and the man from Maida Vale.

That's FIVE, City of Westminster council-lors, out of around 9,000 attempts from 16 Olympiads.

That doesn't count all the Olympics of the modern era going back to 1896. I haven't checked closely on the previous, but I doubt there will be more than one or two more.

It's a toss-up whether to laugh or cry over the reasons Westminster wanted to downgrade a Freeman of the City honour to a plaque - but clearly the council chamber contains its fair share of stupidity and ignorance.

Besides the pathetic suggestion that Wiggins wasn't a true citizen of the borough, equally grating is that what's good enough for Sir Roger Bannister is good enough for Wiggs. The man who broke the four-minute mile got a pokey plaque in Paddington Recreation Ground for one of the most famous sporting events of all time - never mind Britain.

The then junior doctor at St Mary's ran EVERY training step at the Rec en route to the literal milestone, and four years ago was being feted as part of the landmark's 50th anniversary.

Your favourite local paper suggested a racing extravaganza in Paddington attended by the man himself.

Yours truly was told from on lofty Sir Roger hadn't broken the record here - he had actually achieved it in Oxford.

Oh really? The things you discover, eh?

In some ways, the honour Wiggins won't get is irrelevant. Freeman, plaque, squire of Maida Vale - who cares? It's a token acknowledgement of the cyclist's wonderful achievements. To scupper an award while scoring political points is not only petty - but for those represented by ignorant councillors - it's embarrassing.