• Did you know that Egyptian diplomats in this country
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failed to pay 368 parking fines in the first six months of this year — that is more than one unpaid fine every 48 hours or the equivalent of 24,500.
This astonishing total was revealed in the House of Commons by Foreign Office Minister Timothy Eggar as part of a league table of ignored parking fines by officials from diplomatic missions.
The Rumanians are not much better, grossing 324 nonpaid fines, and Poland and Sudan follow closely behind.• Oddly, the regulation-loving West Germans fare worse than the Italians, not renowned for looking kindly on the niceties of traffic law.
Good old New Zealand, Malta and the Vatican City, each with a grand total of nought, either paid all their fines on time, did not commit any offences or do not own any cars.
• ERF is one of six candidates for the 1988 Business Enterprise Award, six years after sacking half its workforce and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. The award will be presented next week by Trade and Industry Secretary Lord Young in London.
• Truckers on the M5 last week thought they had a chance to ton-up when a gantry sign showed the speed limit to be 100mph (160km/h). Police quickly fixed the error.