LET THEM EAT SPUDS

Many TV and film dramas are based on daring bank or jewellery store robberies but we doubt if many scripts based on this growing area of crime is likely to be seen by producers as a rich source of material. "Thieves are raiding allotments across the Black Country and Staffordshire. Rhubarb, potatoes and onions were part of a haul stolen from an allotment near Cannock, while security had to be increased at patches in West Bromich. Allan Rees, of the National Society of Allotments and Leisure Gardening said: "Families are getting poorer and this is one way of putting food on the table." (Times, 25 June) RD