It is a theme that the ISPAL e-zine has, of late, returned to again and again, but overzealous regulation appears to have got in the way of another UK tradition this week, Shrove Tuesday.

In Ripon, North Yorkshire a pancake race that goes back 600 years and has undergone a revival in the past decade had to be abandoned because of health and safety rules.

The race had been cancelled because of the mountain of risk assessments that must be carried out because children were able to take part.

The Very Rev Keith Jukes, Dean of Ripon and co-organiser of the event, admitted that the event had become too expensive to hold since its revival in 1998, with rising policing costs and expensive road closures adding to the problem.

Source: The Times, 5 February, p25 Photograph: www.istock.com / Sharon Dominick