COUNCILLOR Alan Amos managed to steal headlines around Britain once again last weekend, declaring that rape allegations were "easy to make" before wisely rocking back with an apology.

The former Worcester mayor's later admission that "I may have confused some of my views on the subject" is on one hand a plausible stance - but it's the reaction to it among some of his cohort that raises eyebrows.

One or two of his higher-ups - and they know who they are - have satisfied themselves that his exact words, clearly articulated as they were and printed exactly as they were said, were somehow taken "out of context".

Call us old fashioned, but we tend to believe what politicians say, and our job in reporting them to the public without fear or favour, is still terribly important.

Is there anything difficult to understand about that?

* AS if he can barely stay away from the news, Councillor Amos recently applied for permission to extend his house in Lancing Close, Battenhall, which was actually given approval yesterday - but did he do it on the cheap?

Councillor Chris Mitchell, planning committee chairman, said: "Alan Amos needs to buy a ruler, because those drawings look like they've been done by an eight-year-old."

Fellow Tory Andy Stafford, keen to play the joker, voted against it with a mischievous grin on his face.

* POLICE and crime commissioner John Campion has been engaging in some light relief, doing a Q&A for a newsletter in which he cites 'baking cakes' as his preferred hobby after work.

The goatee-sporting Tory, who lists his favourite film as The Italian Job and reveals how he wanted to be a chef, says his first ever job was "mucking out wild animals at the Safari Park".

Sounds like the ideal training ground for all those County Hall meetings, eh?

* CUTS to children's centres in Worcestershire is now a sure thing, with bosses at County Hall taking a gulp and publishing their 'decision notice' after weeks of near-hysteria.

But Labour Councillor Richard Udall tells us he isn't giving up the ghost yet - in the way only he can.

"It's not all over until the fat councillor sings," he said.

* FORMER Cabinet minister David Laws visited Worcestershire yesterday, opening a new sixth form centre at Hanley Castle High.

The smartly-dressed Lib Dem, famous for leading the negotiations with the Tories which created the Coalition, was asked what he thought of David Cameron's shocking fall from grace - admitting he "felt sorry" for him.

Ah shucks!