An 800-year-old dress code banning women from removing their hats at official Thetford Town Council functions may soon be overturned. The rule, which requires women to seek the mayor's permission to take off their hats while men may use their own judgment, has been labelled 'demeaning' by newly-elected councillor Francesca Robinson. The historic maxim will be discussed at a meeting next month.
Section 54 of the Metropolitan Police Act prohibits carrying a plank along a pavement in London unless unloading it from a vehicle. The ban extends to casks, tubs, hoops, wheels, ladders, poles and placards, and even rolling a tub along is forbidden. The law aims to prevent nuisance and ensure easy passage on public thoroughfares.
Residents of a new development in Beverley, East Yorkshire, are subject to a restrictive covenant banning them from hanging washing or airing clean clothes outdoors. The covenant at Westwood Park covers windows, balconies, roof terraces, communal gardens and potentially back gardens. Developers fitted each home with a washer-dryer to help enforce the rule.
Frank Blades was billed £160 for spending an extra 20 minutes at his wife's graveside at Hannah Park Cemetery in Worksop, Nottingham, in 2015. The funeral directors passed on the charge from Bassetlaw District Council, which said gravediggers worked beyond contracted hours. The council expressed surprise the charge was passed on and not absorbed by the funeral company.
Handling a salmon in suspicious circumstances is an offence under Section 32 of the Salmon Act 1986, aimed at selling fish gained illicitly. The Polish Potatoes Order 2004 makes it illegal to import Polish potatoes into England unless written notice is given to an inspector at least two days in advance, due to ring rot outbreaks in Poland.
