BROMYARD Mayor Joan Dauncey could barely disguise her despair, at times, when she spoke to us about life in the rural market town.

Who can blame her? Few of us would be happy to hold our breath for 14 days, waiting in vain for police to respond to a call for help in tackling rowdy youths. Talk about the long arm of the law.

The fact that Bromyard residents pay the same, per household, as anyone else in the West Mercia force area for police cover might throw up the response that their officers-per-head count is on a par with other communities.

But, like all market towns, theirs is an urban population in an isolated rural setting with all the problems associated with yobbish behaviour, often drink or drug-fuelled.

And, if everywhere in Britain suffering from similar anti-social behaviour reported identical difficulty in summoning help, heaven help us all.

So none of us in areas with bigger populations, who are accustomed to seeing the occasional bobby on the beat, or a patrol car driving past, should deny them the right to feel equally served and protected.

However, it's not West Mercia's fault. Chief Constable Peter Hampson can only husband his resources in a way which optimises their effectiveness.

He doesn't have a magic wand. That belongs to Home Secretary David Blunkett, the man whose minion wrote to Mrs Dauncey saying that, if she hadn't received a satisfactory response within a short time, she was to let him know.

She did. Let's see what effect that has on West Mercia's police funding. We're not holding our breath.