Zero Miles an Hour

coach remained stationary until its owners guaranteed the money.

A Milan bound coach from Morocco spent 22 hours going exactly nowhere just outside Benidorm last week when it was stopped by Guardia Civil traffic cops.

They found that the 3 drivers of the coach didn't have international driving licenses which Moroccan nationals require for driving in Europe, and that the coach's tachograph had been tampered with.

The police immediately levied a fine of €3,500 and as the 43 people on board couldn't raise that amount of cash between them the coach remained stationary until its owners, a Neapolitan company, guaranteed the money.

With a bit of luck, the passengers who all had the correct legal paperwork, will be working in Milan by now.

7 March 2004 Stephen White.