BEAN BURGLAR REMOVES CHAMPION CROP [27/07/07 00:36:11]

Secretary Ray Clay was in for a nasty shock when he returned home from a week long sojourn to Scotland on Monday to find that his entire harvest of runner beans (pictured right earlier in the month) had been liberated from his Layer-de-la-Haye estate.

The enraged private hire tycoon, whose fleet of cars ferry the rich and famous to air and sea ports as they embark upon their holidays, could not believe his ears when his beleaguered gardener reported that a person or persons unknown had struck under the cover of darkness to remove the prizewinning climbers from under his very nose.

Clay, who has considerable experience dealing with vegetables, was disgusted at the loss of his coveted Scarlet Emperors and cited the recent increase of unsolved crimes in the locality as a poor reflection on today's society. His long-suffering wife Barbara was equally outraged and said, "Why can't these people just grown their own. I am glad they didn't get hold of his special cucumber, he would really have been cross then."

Neighbours have since mentioned seeing a scruffy, unshaven, weedily-built individual in the vicinity on several occasions during Clay's absence, often carrying a watering can. None of them however thought the matter suspicious enough to report to the Police and one remarked, "Serve the old bugger right, he's got so many beans and he never gives any away to his friends."