Beeping driver is nicked

Trafpol hunt down thumbs-up workman

By PH Staff / Friday, 17 February 2006 / Loading comments

Nick Lenthall

Honk your horn and you could be nicked.

That's what happened to workman Nick Lenthall, who copped a £30 fine for beeping as he drove past a mobile speed camera in Dorset. He raised his thumb at the officers -- and they piled into a van and hunted him down.

"It was a very light-hearted thing, I was just having a laugh," Lenthall told the Sun newspaper. "And I wasn't speeding. But I was stunned when they pulled me over and started telling me off. It’s a waste of resources."

While you're only supposed to honk in order to warn other road users of your presence, the officers' over-reaction to a minor transgression follows a recent newsletter sent to retail traders in the area suggesting that they deal with small thefts -- below £75 -- themselves and don't bother the police because they didn't have the manpower.

Road safety campaign Safe Speed founder Paul Smith said that the focus was entirely wrong: "It's extraordinary that police find it reasonable to get an easy target who is a law-abiding citizen."

Just what were the officers being so sensitive about?