Fareham Town Centre

Do you live in it?  What is the most irritating thing about

it?

For me it's the sirens.  Even the drunks walking home I can deal

with.  Some woman was mugged for her purse and laptop right outside the

front of our flats the other week - I can even deal with that!  Though,

admittedly, I'd rather not have to - not least if I had been said victim.

But the sirens, dear god - can't they do something about them? The thing with

Fareham is that, population-wise, it's a small city not a town.  It just

doesn't have a uni or a cathedral – and you only have to look at Hull (my place

of birth) to know that’s not always a good thing.  And population pushes up statistics.

But the sirens never stop – and for reasons no doubt known

to the police but remains a mystery to the rest of us, sirens do not “kick in”.  What I mean by that is like an alarm clock –

beginning quietly so as not to give anyone elderly a coronary, and graduating

noise-wise.

Why the heck can’t sirens perform in a similar way instead

of scaring the living daylights (or nightlights as they often are) out of me by

initiating their LOUD BLAST immediately (it seems) outside my window!

Come on, coppers!  Is

this by design – or design flaw?