I remember when if I needed to speak to a policeman, there was always a duty sergeant available.

Recently, I had to ask a police officer to sign a document for an Open University grant. At first, the person on duty had refused to ask a policeman, but after 30 minutes, I had my documents signed.

On returning home I found one copy had missed being signed and I returned to the station.

I was again told I could not see a policeman. They said there probably wasn't one in the building. But it's a huge building, so what is it used for?

I waited for an hour until a superintendent said: "We refuse to ask anyone to sign the document." I said: "You will not help a retired mature student to claim a grant even though a policeman signed the others an hour ago?"

There was a community police meeting in Kingston Road on Friday evening where I expect they told people that community police will help residents. But how does a resident gain access to a police station to get a paper signed?

M COLLER Staines