THE reasons three Cambridgeshire police officers have been sacked and others forced to resign in the past two years make interesting reading. Apart from the obvious sanction of the sack for those found guilty of serious crimes, come the vignettes of life

THE reasons three Cambridgeshire police officers have been sacked and others forced to resign in the past two years make interesting reading.

Apart from the obvious sanction of the sack for those found guilty of serious crimes, come the vignettes of life in the modern constabulary.

Two constables, for instance, were each fined £300 for "discreditable conduct" but there's no chance of finding out what offences they committed to merit such a sanction. Nor were the police ready to explain why a sergeant was fined 10 days' pay for "general conduct".

One constable was forced to "step down", according to a police statement, for breaching politeness and tolerance rules. A very polite way, one suspects, of saying he, too, was sacked.

This information came to light only after a Freedom of Information request, even if we are still shielded from some of the more injudicious details as to precisely what the officers did wrong.

GARY Tame was out when freak lighting ripped through his Pondersbridge home near Whittlesey, and he arrived back to find his roof tiles sliding off, a hole in the roof and a collapsed ceiling.

Ironically, Mr Tame, who rents the house from Fenland District Council, was visiting a surveyor at the time to discuss buying the house under the council's right to buy policy.

He said: "You have to see the funny side of it."

Gary, you definitely win my 'most engaging person of the week' award by miles.

YOU will recall that the March couple who got married at Butlins made Brakespeare think this might be refreshingly liberating for guests normally stuck in stuffy hotels.

And probably he was right for Butlins weddings are gaining in popularity.

Butlins tells me couples can tie the knot during a three-day stay starting with an 'I'm Getting Married in the Morning' party and ending with a 'Recovery Party' on day three.

The company decided to offer the service because hundreds of couples were asking to hold ceremonies at the resorts having first met there or because they had happy memories of Butlins holidays.

Sheer bliss.

IT'S comforting to know that ground-breaking ideas in the Fens are noted and followed up in other parts of the

country.

Our editor received an e-mail a few days ago from a chap who had noticed a home in one of our newspapers being offered as a raffle prize.

Impressed by this clever wheeze, he decided to set up his own company - Raffles Estate Agents Ltd - to raffle off his land in Wick, Scotland. Apparently there are five acres with sea views, and tickets cost only £30 each.

So if you fancy risking £30 you could end up with a bleak chunk of windswept Scotland. If you're really lucky you could win one of the two £5,000 runners-up prizes.

LITTLE by way of official confirmation or denial has emanated from Fenland Hall over the scrapping of proposals to axe half the public loos in Wisbech, March, Chatteris and Whittlesey.

Suffice it to say both town and district councillors have been celebrating the news, which they claimed was universally unpopular with the electorate.

But, as always, nothing is quite what it seems. I hear that the good burghers of March have been seeking further clarification following a comment by Councillor Peter Skoulding, now minuted in the monthly Town Council report.

It seems Cllr Skoulding, Fenland Council's portfolio holder for finance, casually observed that the reprieve was only temporary and no firm decisions had been made.

March Council's request for "clarification" now rests in the in-tray of Sandra Claxton, Fenland's deputy chief executive. Her spokesman told me this week: "We have no comment to make on press speculation."

AMONG new names about to become familiar to Fenland council house tenants is Oluwafunmilayo Olawunmi Oni.

He has been appointed to the Options Fenland Shadow Board, overseeing the possible sale of council houses to a housing association.

I welcome him for two reasons. One is that I am sure he will find the new board an exciting environment to work. Secondly he has let us know we can refer to him simply as Ola, for which we are thankful.