I VAGUELY remember a certain Dubya saying how happy he was to be visiting a country of "free speech"! So how is this for a free country?

To celebrate a very important family occasion, the boat was pushed out with a meal at the Royal County Hotel in Durham City. On arrival we noticed a very much blacked-out vehicle, like an oversized minibus, bristling with more aerials than a hedgehog. "Funny" we thought, but passed it by.

Some hours later, after a very enjoyable evening, we headed for home and this "strange" thing was still there. Then we noticed the number plate read "US Government". Curiouser and curiouser!

Someone suggested a photo-call was appropriate so out came a camera, and, in a flash (but not of the camera type) out came a guy who drawled in a faintly American way, "I can't allow you to do that ma'am".

So where exactly is "the land of the free"?

CATHERINE & PHILIP HARTLEY (who thought they were free!), Royshaw Avenue, Blackburn.