Iwas intrigued to read last week a quote from the deputy head of a local school on the continuing debate about Marlow Hill's arbitrary speed limits and the enforcement thereof.

He said that there are around three thousand pupils arriving or emerging daily from the three schools at the top of Marlow Hill and therefore any traffic-calming measures were always appreciated. He was, perhaps, being diplomatic in response to a query from the newspaper, because, in fact, the speed limits around that area seem to have no relation whatsoever to the presence of the pupils of any of those schools.

The entrance to John Hampden School is, almost unbelievably, in a 70 mph limit area. Anyone from Wycombe High School or St Bernard's who walks down Marlow Hill is doing so yards from their schools in a 40 mph limit.

Somewhat perversely, then, the only students actually protected by a 30 mph limit are the ones at the bottom of the hill at Wycombe Abbey, who do not have a mass entrance or exodus every day, as Wycombe Abbey is a boarding school.

If one were to be mischievous, one might be tempted to suggest that young people attending a public school merit more protection than their state school contemporaries. Clearly that cannot be the case; but if protection of children is a contributory factor in the positioning policy of both speed limits and their enforcement, then perhaps someone from Bucks County Council or the Thames Valley Partnership would care to explain the rationale for this bizarre anomaly.

It is undeniable nonsense to claim that road safety plays any part in the positioning of mobile speed detection devices at the bottom of Marlow Hill to catch cars who unwisely anticipate the upcoming 40 mph sign. There is no pedestrian activity worthy of mention there and the only opening into the road is the rarely used one occupied sporadically by the police car containing the speed camera.

A system worth enforcing would be one where, whatever the speed limit around a school might be for the rest of the time, when children are arriving or leaving, flashing signs indicating a 20 mph speed limit should operate; and that would be worth enforcing and would also attract the support of the vast majority of motorists who are otherwise unable to escape the conclusion that they are either the victims of bureaucratic incompetence or seen as cash gathering easy pickings.