JOBSWORTH staff at Harrow Council seem to have been a bit too pernickety over an application to register land on South Harrow's Strongbridge Estate as a town green.

The two applicants submitted eyewitness accounts detailing how local people used the grassed area without secrecy, force or permission for at least 20 years for lawful sports and pastimes.

There is only so much detail a local can realistically provide, but the authority asked the pair for impossible information such as the names and addresses of people who used the land years ago and, to precisely define the 'locality' in which those who used the land lived.

Rather than assist the applicants, the council have simply dismissed the application on the grounds of incompleteness - a handy way to avoid examining the substantive issue and putting a potential spanner in the works for the divisive estate redevelopment.

A blow to education

IT CAN only be bad news that Stanmore College faces savage cuts.

The college is an important resource for young people in this corner of London, and a large source of jobs locally.

Let us hope this is the only time such measures need to be considered.

The further education sector has suffered more than its share of blows in the past few years.