A little local trouble

A weekly round-up of rural rumpuses

Unfortunately, sewage (see feature above) is not the only problem facing bathers in Cornwall at present. This week it was reported that the county's only licensed maritime burial ground may close permanently after the headless body of a man was washed up at Freathy beach in Whitsand Bay. The corpse, dropped overboard at a site one and a half miles off Rame Head in south- east Cornwall, had to be identified by means of a neck tag. It's the second such incident this year. In February, burials were suspended when a woman's body also came ashore at Freathy. The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food is investigating the possibility that fishing gear may have broken open the coffin. The Rame Head cemetery is one of just three in British waters, the other two being situated off Newhaven and the Isle of Wight.

Residents of Campbeltown and Rothesay in the West Highlands have complained to the local council about alleged strong-arm tactics used by Hare Krishna monks collecting money. One Campbeltown shop-keeper said of the shaven- headed sect: "They behaved more like skinheads than members of a religious group." A spokesman for Argyll and Bute District Council told the Glasgow Herald: "If door-to-door or other collections cause inconvenience, we are duty bound under the Civic Government Scotland Act to refuse further applications from the organisation." Graham McTurk, a spokesman for the Lesmahagow temple said he knew of no problems but added that he would investigate.