As with all things to do with this Government, you must look very carefully at all their policies.

When police community support officers were put in place I wondered: why £18,000 a year for somebody who had no powers of arrest and whose only use is to walk the streets and chat to people? While this may be good for the elderly, I do not think for one minute your local drug dealer or mugger will be quaking in their trainers.

I have now discovered what Warrington police are using some of them for giving out speeding tickets. These powers have been given in Cheshire, but not in Greater Manchester.

The problem is they are not trained police officers but members of the public who undergo very basic training. I have had first-hand experience of their incompetence.

Driving to work along Glazebrook Lane, as I do every day, I noticed a PCSO on the church car park, armed with a laser speed detector. I was doing 30mph.

A week later I got a notice to prosecute, for doing 42mph. I was shocked. I asked for more evidence as motoring press laser speed guns are not always accurate.

When his statement arrived it was pure farce. First, he claimed to have fired the gun at the rear of the vehicle. Impossible as I was driving towards him. Next he claimed to have been on Glazebrook Lane outside a private house some 100m from the church.

Off to court I went to plead my case, and the magistrate agreed the officer had made mistakes and the statement sent to me was different to the notes read out in court, but still he gave me a £90 fine, three points, and £450 costs.

Now I have worked hard all my life and done OK, so £540 is not the end of the world.

In 30 years of doing more than 30,000 miles a year I have had no points, so again no big deal.

On the other hand, had I had nine points, four people would be out of work, my business would fold and I could not pay my bills.

Just as a footnote, a news letter came from Cheshire Police. Two points stand out: 1. Road policing is worse than last year.

2. In the advert for new PCSOs, it asks can you complete paperwork accurately?

I am not a speeder or police hater, in fact I received praise from both magistrate and police as a couple of years ago I stood up to a gang attacking a ticket master at Birchwood station and vandalising the station The youths pleaded not guilty until I turned up in court when they changed their plea to guilty.

Would I do it again?

No, my experience at the hands of poorly trained PCSOs has changed my whole outlook on the law, and stealth policing, and unlike this Government I believe one well-trained officer with full powers is worth £40,000 a year or just two and a bit PCSOs.

I rest my case RICHARD Booth Birchwood