Just been out for a nice long run. On the way back, crossing deserted moor land (about 400m) from a road, but not a place people generally go, I come across a bloke ripping branches off a tree and laying them down in the bracken. He was that intent on doing it that he didn’t hear or see me coming, and had already pulled a few branches off.

As soon as he saw me about 30m away he hit the deck. Bit odd I thought, so I ran a bit closer, but not too close. Only after I passed did he get up. I just said ‘You ok mate?’ he just said ‘yes’ and just stood there almost startled.

If he had been a kid I would have told him to stop destroying the tree, but it was a guy probably in his 60’s. If he had a ligit reason for doing it I would have thought he would say why he was doing it.

Further sluith skills were hightened as the Police helicopter has been circulating an area not more than 1.5 miles away twice in the last 2 hrs..

Finally Mrs FD in her clinical opinion suggested he might be a local nutter that’s escaped.

So rang Police non emergency. Who took all the details.

Cant work out if it was the right thing to do or not..

Sounds fine to me….

Sounds like a sensible thing to do, at worst they’ll send a car over and he’ll be a bit weird, at best you tipped them off to the where abouts of someone they would like a word with.

The guy was definitely being weird. You may have averted something really serious happening! And if you haven’t, well, no harm done. Better to regret something you have done than something you haven’t! 🙂

Definitely done the best thing, he might be a missing person with dementia or similar.

It’s quite common to get older folks missing from home especially if they have health issues. A lot of the time they get found by members of the public reporting suspicious behavior.

FFS I was only making a bed for the rainbow unicorns. Piss on my chips why don’t ya.

Good on you mate, consider yourself a good citizen. Someone doing something really odd is either going to do themselves harm, or probably someone else. The police are good people and will have taken good care of the situation, and probably looked after that bloke if he’d needed help.

I think biking must bring out the good Samaritan in us. I was riding over Saddleworth moor yesterday and saw a sign flapping around in the wind, almost coming off the fence. So I went over to try and attach it again. Turned out it was a sign publicising the ‘Searching for Keith Bennett’ campaign. So I felt rather pleased I’d stopped.

They will probably send out special branch. 😆

The old ones are always the best 😀

the police often have to branch out into social issues

Think you’re barking up the wrong tree, they’ll probably just leave it, the bunch of saps. This may be followed by a root and branch investigation, but they probably cant see the wood for the trees.

They will probably do a leaflet drop in the local village for more info.

You’ve certainly not waisted the arborial humor types’ time.

Where are the spelling pedants?

I was about to ask exactly that…

I once rang the police (non-emergency) because a bloke in my flats car park looked shifty.

The Police phoned back several minutes later to thank me and informed me they’d just arrested him, they were looking for him regarding an earlier burglary.

Wasted, not waisted.

There you go Al. HTH.

I once reported finding some bolt croppers under a tree whilst walking my dogs. The cops had a right go at me for not picking them up and for wasting their time for going to have to find them (even though I gave them a specific position close to a main road,

I think f them next time.

They wanted your fingerprints on the bolt croppers so that they could clear up some unresolved crimes. Crafty feckers.

FFS I was only making a bed for the rainbow unicorns. Piss on my chips why don’t ya.

😆

So no free bolt croppers? I’ve got lots of free metal thieving tools – hammers, pry bars, and just recently a very nice Facom hacksaw, spanners and ratchet set all left in our park.

I always put up a notice saying if you want your tools email me – never happens.

We often report speeders and short-cutters in our street.

“We’ll see if there’s a car in the area” means: “No chance of any action, we’ll stick a report on the PNC and next time he’s seen by a patrol car with ANPR he’ll get stopped for a ‘producer'”

We often report speeders and short-cutters in our street.

Why report people who are taking a short cut.

Why report people who are taking a short cut.

Did you not see the bit about it being “their” street??? Can just let any old oik use it!

After watching lots of episodes of ‘criminal minds’ I reckon that you had found his dump site and he was using the branches to cover some victims mutilated body.

short-cutters in our street

I expect half of them are bloody cyclists looking to avoid riding along a major arterial road in the rush hour. The unthinking so and so’s.

Finally Mrs FD in her clinical opinion suggested he might be a local nutter that’s escaped.

😯

Well at least he hadn’t just murdered an old lady and stabbed a young lad, which is why the Police helicopter was there.

The more I thought about it last night I was thinking he probably had mental health issues, and I doubt if the Police got out to him with what was going on just a few miles away.

There are often threads on here about people doing the same thing, but with bikes.

Maybe he was Geocaching

Our street is restricted to access only but is blighted by drivers racing through using it as a shortcut to beat the traffic lights on the main road. So Lancashire Police encourage us to use the non-emergency number to report speeders and when we do so, we always remind the operator that the street is also restricted to acess only, so someone whose address is not in the street is probably cutting through. Nothing anybody can prove but if the Police do stop the driver later and mention it, it will all contribute.

About 10 years ago residents nearly succeeded in getting the street closed and made into two culs de sac but at the last minute a county councillor sabotaged the closure. We are still trying to find out who leaned on him to get him to do that, we think it was a fellow mason and street resident who didn’t want to drive the extra half mile to the golf club.

the front page of the local paper had a banner headline about stealing copper from railway lines.. b~gger me.. very first house that morning backed onto railway and there they were loading a transit with the stuff..

999 all details etc..gave them reg no. etc was told they were false plates.. 1 hour later return phone call thanks but you need to phone transport police not 999.. heres the number..

3 hours after original call cops pull up blue lights dogs etc. followed by copter.. where are they??? fail…

ripping branches off a tree and laying them down in the bracken

A confused paleo dieter making a MAMIL trap. You know how you used to go riding with other folk? …

Have you just waisted Police time? Maybe he was a hipster..

Our street is restricted to access only

And how is that enforced and what’s the penalty for driving down a street from one end to the other?

Ray Mears?

Sounds EVIL