PRIME Minister Gordon Brown must possess one of the most underrated intellects on the planet. The man is a mental colossus.

After energising the economy with a mighty two-and-a-half per cent reduction in VAT he found time to conceive a scheme for police officers to walk home anyone feeling insecure?

It follows a pilot in east London where the public can call a hotline requesting a police escort if they are worried about walking back from a cash till or post office.

I assume there will be shelters where you can wait for your bobby. If the officer you require already has a couple of frightened folk under his wing, he may walk by without stopping in which case you’ll have to catch the next cop.

At night there’s probably no more than four officers pounding the streets of Macclesfield and Wilmslow which have a joint population of around 90,000. Now, unless my maths has deteriorated, a few dozen escorted walks could tie them all up for a week. So what’s the answer? Bendy bobbies.

Imagine a long line of jittery Jessies with a PC at each end plus a sergeant in the middle snaking along the pavement? Fearful folk could flag one down and join the line. Maybe they’ll use old police stations as terminus with signs saying ‘Change here for Moss Lane’.

And it takes the Prime Minister to think of this.

Now I know we’re in safe hands.

The views on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express