There are rumours going the rounds that Andrew Cameron, Chief Constable of Central Scotland and Derek Penman, Assistant Chief Constable are considering early retirement after the debacle of Tyndrum.

The event on August 24th, the August Bank Holiday Weekend, was misreported in The Oban Times the following Thursday.

The headline screaming "Police crackdown on speeding bikers" was far off the mark.

Motorcycle section officers from Strathclyde, Central, Northern and Tayside road policing units attended the event which was to encourage bike riders to sign up for advance rider training as part of the Bikesafe campaign.

The accompanying photo shows nine motorcycle officers, four police vehicles and a police helicopter. There were an additional eight supporting personel including Assistant Chief Constable Derek Penman.

Total cost of this piece of nonsense had to be around £5,000 to £10,000. This doesn't include the avgas that the helicopter burned while hovering in the perfect position for the group shot.

And the PR person couldn't communicate the right story to The Oban Times.

All of this is interesting enough as a demonstration of the missuse of scarce police resources in tight economic times.

The reality of district policing is that police officers are having to cover more than their assigned area because of lack of manpower.

The demands of the job are such that duty officers are unable to take time out from their shift for a proper lunch break.

This is a Health and Safety violation.

The health of duty officers is being compromised so that a group shot including a helicopter can appear on the front cover of The Oban Times over the wrong story.

A good time for Chief Cameron and Assistant Chief Penman to consider pastures new.