'Roll Up, Roll Up, All The Fun Of The Fair!'

or not as the case may be,

Health and Safety fears have reared their head again, this time at a fun fair and a boating park, officials at three Butlins resorts – in Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness – have decided that the point of dodgems is to dodge one another, so they have banned visitors from bumping their cars together, requesting that they manoeuvre them carefully and sedately around the course instead, I guess they must think that people pay money to drive bumper cars to go round and round an endless roundabout!

ironically, it was Sir Billy Butlin himself who brought the electric bumper car, equipped with its distinctive large bumpers, to British fairgrounds from the U.S. in the 1920s, but although there have been attempts to claim compensation for injuries sustained while on a bumper car, none has succeeded, solicitors say it would be very difficult to prove fault on the part of a dodgem driver, and many believe the level of impact would simply be too low for a compensation claim, Jeremy Pardey, resort director at Butlins in Bognor Regis, said he could not allow the cars to bump for ‘health and safety reasons’ what a kill joy,

in another case of Health and Safety rules being use to spoil peoples fun, Stan Parkinson, chairman of New Brighton Model Boat Club, has asked the council to ban the use of steam model boats on the boating pond at New Brighton’s lake near the River Mersey, he said the ban was introduced for safety reasons, primarily to protect children who visit the lake to watch enthusiasts sailing model boats, he claims that the risk of steam or petrol boats blowing up made them too risky, he added: 'if a petrol or steam boat goes full pelt into the side, it could make a real mess.' a council spokeswoman said: 'we were asked to put these signs up at the request of New Brighton and Hoylake Boating Clubs because they can be dangerous on a relatively small boating lake in a public area,' countering this Mr Swale said the ban particularly affected his disabled friend who makes model steam boats, but can only use New Brighton’s lake because it has a wall around it, he added: 'it is time for all steam enthusiasts to stand up and be counted, make a fuss, write to your MP, go to the European Courts, all model steam engines have to comply with EU safety regulations,' as an aside I can find not a single mention of a steam powered boat blowing up and causing injury, there is more to this story than meets the eye, the rag and stick brigade wanting their own lake perhaps?