Okehampton Sports Clubs... what fuel do you use to cut your grass?

A news report this morning told how a North Devon farmer has been fined £250 by HM Revenue and Customs for using red (agricultural) diesel in the tractor he uses to mow his village football pitch in Hartland.

The news will have worried sports club committees all over Devon: in a predominantly farming community, it's likely that hundreds of similar offences are being committed every day of the week, particularly in summer as groundsmen work to keep cricket fields playable.

The full report (see BBC SW) includes the typical authority  get-out line.  Bob Gaiger, of HMRC, said that the officers of the road fuel testing unit "had no choice in the matter" and "we have defined what constitutes the legal use of red diesel. This was outside of that scope of what the law allowed and the officers had to take action."

Time was when our police and other officials operated in the spirit of the law. Sadly today's jobsworth generation can only work to the letter of the law!

It's good to see that our former MP, Geoffrey Cox, now representing the new Torridge and West Devon, has taken up the case. Let's hope HMRC will see sense.