DEAR oh dear! Never doubt the ability of the great British public to leave you despairing.

With tighter restrictions aimed at protecting us all from the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic hanging over their heads, what did hundreds of people do? Why head off to Blackpool to turn the prom into a seething mass of non mask wearing, thoughtless revellers, that’s what.

Maybe it was the sun which had got to them but off they went en masse like lemmings heading to the highest cliff.

Several things struck me as interesting about this.

The first was the amount of comments about what a disgrace it was (and it was) voiced by those who had gone to Blackpool themselves - and handily for media outlets taken photographs to prove it.

Excuse me, if you were so worried about people’s lack of control, why did you jump into the car and head off there yourselves? Surely the best way to avoid any problems was to apply a little common sense.

Clearly there is a groundswell of public opinion which is becoming ever more sceptical about the threat we face from Covid-19 - the conspiracy theorists are having a field day.

But the virus is out there. It has been since the start of the year and we are hardly any further on in dealing with it.

So until the vaccines are ready to roll out surely it’s best to play the percentages, stick to the advice, protect the vulnerable and not selfishly pose potential problems all because you wanted a stroll down the prom and a bag of chips.

Land lubber (name and address supplied)