Bike bashing causes scarlet
UNLUCKY HERTFORD HAS experienced more than its share of bad luck this week. As well as problems with the internal phone system, several hapless students found that their bike locks had been ripped off, and their bikes moved from where they had left them.
But this was not a mere act of mindless vandalism. The destruction of the locks and removal of the bikes from the college railings along Catte Street was carried out by the BBC who were filming a new adaptation of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
College authorities say that they had given the cyclists of Hertford ample warning about the filming and the need for the street to be clear.
Head Porter, Mrs. Mullee, insists that the notices were put up in Catte Street "from one end of the railings to the other" on the day proceding the filming. She added that there was "no way" that students could have missed the warnings. Students are not as positive about the prominence of the warnings. One disgruntled student called the claims of Mrs. Mullee "complete bollocks."
For the students who found their, often expensive, locks broken and their bikes "just left outside the college in a heap," the importance of when a sign was put up is not as central as being reimbursed for the damage. There was friction between the BBC and Hertford lodge over who should actually be responsible for the damage.
Hertford student Sara Miller claims that the BBC only gave her "a rubbish chain" to replace her D-lock. Sara added that the BBC only gave her this chain because the "lodge told them they had to," and that the BBC did not leave a contract address for further claims "like they said they would." The BBC declined comment on the outcome of the situation, despite endeavours to contact them.
25th May 2000