Since the digital switchover I keep losing all my BBC channels. I've lost them around half a dozen times so far. If I retune, I can get them back, but it's a pain having to keep retuning.


I had freeview before the switchover and never had this problem at all.


Anyone else experiencing the same problems?

I believe that we already have to renew the photocard driving licence every 10 years. But this doesn't involve a retest. I don't think there are any plans to make us resit the test every 10 years. I think the idea of 10 year renewal is basically to update your picture (although obviously at our cost!).

With regards to the bikes, I think they are saying that the minimum age for direct access will change from 21 to 24. So if you are over 24, you will be able to sit just the direct access test to qualify to ride any bike. However, if you want to ride the bigger unrestricted bikes before the age of 24, then there will be a series of tests allowing you to progress from moped (age 16), light bike (age 17), medium bike (age 19) to large unrestricted bikes (age 21).

It looks like this went for consultation to motoring groups, etc. So I'm not sure what the final outcome will be. If I've got this wrong - please shout!

There's some more info on this on the DFT website - http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/thirddirective

Julie - I think I saw your dog around a week ago.
I was driving along the A4 towards Newbury and had just gone through the traffic lights at the bottom of Northfield Road.
I saw a young dog like this one running across the road in my rear view mirror - he was darting around in a bit of a panic. I don't think he was hit by any of the cars. I can't remember the precise day - will ask my son.

Firstly, let me say right off that I don't condone yobbish, anti-social behaviour - whatever age the yobs are. And I think it's good to discuss how it might be managed/prevented/punished. However, I have some practical questions in relation to the implementation of a curfew.

1) Should a curfew be applied to all kids under a given age, regardless of whether they have done anything wrong?

• Some young people will have jobs that require them to work unsocial hours which might be covered by a curfew period (paper round, retail, hospitals, baby sitting, etc). Would they be exempt?
• If so how would this be proved their exemption?
• There are probably many other legitimate circumstances when a young person may be out (and this would be dependent on the hour set for the curfew)

2) Suppose a curfew were imposed - for whatever age limit - how would this be enforced?

• Would the police/PCSO's run patrols around all the streets/parks/woods/etc with vans?
• Would they take the kids directly back home or book them through the police station?
• If they take them home, would they hand them over to parents or drop them at the door?
• What kind of increase in resources would be required to effectively achieve all this?
• Where would the money come from?

3) Would there be some penalty for the parents of kids found breaking the curfew?

• How would this be administered? (on the spot fines, tickets, option to contest in court, etc)
• What would be the impact of this financially on the police/court services/etc?
• What happens if the fines aren't paid? Who will chase the debt? Will there be further penalties?
• Would this be a criminal offence or a civil infringement?

4) Should curfews be applied only when an offence is committed?

I may be wrong, but I thought this was already an option through the existing court system. I seem to recall reading about a young lad (13/14?) who consistently broke his curfew despite being ankle tagged.

I prefer the new format, as I think it does make it easier to respond to specific points.

However, there are times that I find the bickering and bantering (especially when it is between two individuals rather than a general discussion) irritating to the extent that I stop reading that particular thread.

And whilst the regular posters make a great contribution to the forum, sometimes it feels like it is always the same small group of people that are dominating the forum and hence shaping the atmosphere and "prevalent opinion" of the forum.

I love to see a post that provides a differing and well presented point of view - (for example, GoodBoyRacer's first post about "boy racers", or Anon123's comments about policing) and would love to see more of this. It's like a breath of fresh air when someone does this. I'm sure most of the regular posters would also welcome more contributions from new/less vocal members.

So why do so many members post relatively infrequently? (like me!!)

Speaking for myself, the best way I can describe it is like walking into a "locals" pub - where you're the outsider and not sure whether you're going to be welcomed in or shunned or chased out!!! And if the atmosphere on the forum appears to be confrontational/critical or if the general opinion of most posters differs from your own then it can be off-putting to post.

Of course - that's just my opinion...

I totally agree.
The punishment is out of proportion with the offence. Would it be equally OK to destroy someone's car if they parked on double yellow lines? After all, there's no missing these - yet thousands of people every day ignore them.
Of course there should be measures in place to protect pedestrians on a pedestrianised road. But there must be better ways of doing this (as many people here have already suggested).

Just after the new recycling site opened, we had hired a transit van to move some of my brother's furniture into storage. We went down the tip to dispose of an old mattress he didn't want, and couldn't get in because the van was over 2m. We then had to drive home, ring the council, and arrange for them to collect it from the house (this was before the charges came in). What a waste of money. The council suggest using the recycling site as an alternative to paying for a collection - but how many people could fit a washing machine/mattress/sofa/etc in the boot of a car?