Jobsworth alert

Two excellent examples today of absolutely moronic officialdom:

1. This bus driver in Darlington, who ordered a 13 year old girl off a bus (forcing her to walk 2 miles home in the dark on her own) because her pass expired at 9pm. The time? 9.01. Nice work, bus driver!

2. These nameless officials at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency who have carpeted lifeguards in Hope Cove, South Devon, for using a boat, recently repaired but awaiting a seaworthiness certificate, to rescue a drowning 13 year old girl. The lifeguards (volunteers) have all been threatened with disciplinary action and the boat has been locked up. Nice work, Maritime and Coastguard Agency!

I'd like to blame New Labour somehow for this but I think there is just a streak of moron that runs through all petty officials in the UK that surfaces from time to time.