What I want to know is, does this Tony Bennett, of the self-styled 'County Watch' group, apparently from Harlow, bear any resemblance to the Tony Bennett of Harlow who has nothing better to do that go out vandalising road signs?

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GROUP WANTS TO REINSTATE LINCOLNSHIRE’S HISTORIC BOUNDARIES

(Lincolnshire Echo, 30 July 2005, by Emma Pearson)

Signs fall as border warriors hit county

[Picture: HISTORIC FIGHT: Members of County Watch, from left, Tony Bennett, Robert Stevens, Derek Norman and Robin Lamming are pictured removing a county border sign near Gainsborough. The men will be taking the sign to Lincolnshire’s historic border at the Humber Bridge].

The first shots in a war over Lincolnshire’s county border were fired this week with the disappearance and re-appearance of seven road signs.

The ‘Welcome to Lincolnshire’ signs were taken by a group called County Watch which moved them to the historic borders of Lincolnshire at the Humber Bridge.

“We were driving to Gainsborough and couldn’t believe it when we aw a sign just outside the town saying ‘Welcome to Lincolnshire’, said group chairman Tony Bennett.

“By that time we were 20 miles inside Lincolnshire’s borders, so it seemed ridiculous to see this sign where it was”.

The sign, on the A159 Gainsborough to Scunthorpe Road, actually shows the boundary between Lincolnshire County Council’s area and north Lincolnshire.

The county was divided in 1974 when Humberside was created. Now the Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire areas are run by separate county councils.

“When the Government created all these new local Councils in 1974, they promised they wouldn’t alter the traditional county boundaries or the loyalties of the people who lived in those counties”, said Mr Bennett. “Lincolnshire starts where Yorkshire finishes - not 20 miles into Lincolnshire”.

County Watch is a national group made up of people who make it their mission in life to preserve the historic boundaries of the counties of Britain. Four activists travelled from Hull, Nottingham, Essex and Huntingdon to remove the signs.

They took down the signs on the Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire borders near Gaisnborough and took them to the Humber Bridge on the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire border.

Local supporter Ken Evans, of Boston, said: “I think it is very important not to let go of our history and a lot of that is tied up within the historical ideas of counties”, he said. “People feel a sense of identity from their county. I think losing local identity is the first step towards social anarchy”.

But officers at Lincolnshire County Council are not amused at the removal of the road signs. The authority has not ruled our prosecuting County Watch members.

Area Highways Manager Eric Jorgenson said: “They are not authorised to work on the highway and they may have put motorists at risk by working one the roadside without proper safety checks.

“If they think that these signs were wrong or inappropriately placed there are democratic channels they can go through.

“They are perfectly entitled to their views, of course, but this was not the way to go about it. “Motorists need to know which local authority are the are in so they can contact them if they have a problem or need any services”

Should the signs be moved to the county’s historic border with Yorkshire? Write to ‘Your View’ at the Lincolnshire Echo’, Brayford Wharf East, LINCOLN LN5 7AT. Or e-mail your view to: yourview@lincolnshireecho.co.uk

So you're "lincoln" these issues together then, Simon?

That "borders" on the ridiculous.

They seem to have a point, that the sign is in the wrong place - but that doesn't give THEM the right to move it.

Surely tampering with road signs is an offence, regardless of anything else? Why is nothing being done about these people?

<< So you're "lincoln" these issues together then, Simon?

That "borders" on the ridiculous.>>

Hey! You are improving. Very good.

I just had a mental image of Tony and his mates putting up UK signs around the coast.

(The silliness here appears to be contagious) :-O

<<Local supporter Ken Evans, of Boston, said: “I think it is very important not to let go of our history and a lot of that is tied up within the historical ideas of counties”, he said. “People feel a sense of identity from their county. I think losing local identity is the first step towards social anarchy”.>>

The first step toward anarchy is the sort of behaviour exhibited by these protestors.

Actually, they usually start with a violent revolution.

Then communities would need to adopt one of many forms of anarchy, these include:

syndicalism
marxism (anarcho-communist)
nihilism (possibly the most scary)
or perhaps (and contraversially) anarcho-capitalism.

So as you can see, pulling up a few signs would need to be backed up with a co-ordinated overthrow of parliament with a momentum that makes it continuous until all the goals are met.

After this we'd have to set up communities and how much autonomy each one has. Land and produce could be organised through some form of bartering and jobs can be done in a sort of I'll build your wall, you clean my carpet.

Although "your" and "my" would be seen as dubious.

I'll stop now.

<<So as you can see, pulling up a few signs would need to be backed up with a co-ordinated overthrow of parliament with a momentum that makes it continuous until all the goals are met.>>

Neither can a legal process of changing the border be said to be archy either.

It seems to me that the people behind this little escapade tend to pick and choose the righteousness of democracy and the law when it suites them.

One minute it's imperative to enforce "the law" because it conveniently mitigates against metric.

The next minute it's a righteous campaign to uproot legally placed signs just because they don't like it.

Isn't archy a political movement of people who want everyone to go round in a stooped, bent-over fashion?

You've lost me.

"Neither can a legal process of changing the border be said to be archy either."

I was playing with your spelling mistake.

<<nihilism (possibly the most scary>>

What is there scared about?

erm ... a political system that believes nothing exists?

"Ooh, I like your car.." [stab stab] [vroooooom...]