A SURPRISE call to the newsroom from Councillor Martin Curtis to confirm that he is the elected representative temporarily deprived of his driving licence through the totting up procedure. Quick resolution, there, I felt of Brakespeare s dilemma of last w

A SURPRISE call to the newsroom from Councillor Martin Curtis to confirm that he is the elected representative temporarily deprived of his driving licence through the totting up procedure.

Quick resolution, there, I felt of Brakespeare's dilemma of last week about naming names.

Martin says the six-month ban, now happily ended, was not something he had sought to hide and wondered why Brakespeare's interest had been aroused.

Of course he knew the answer before posing the question. The information had come from 'friends' curious to step up interest in the Tory campaign to find a replacement for Malcolm Moss.

"I did wrong," says Cllr Curtis. "I really can't say anything else. It just astonishes me you didn't know about it."

His worst 'sin', he reckoned, was to be caught on the A1 at 1am doing 81 mph in a 70 mph limit.

"I'm thinking of adding to my blog- something like 10 things I have learned from over the past two years," he added cheerily.

And just to refresh my memory of his newly-discovered prowess for running, I should add he did this year's Great North Run in 1 hr, 57min, a full 20 minutes faster that his performance a year ago.

And at the end of the month he's off to Dublin to compete in the marathon there.