PITY poor pedestrian Barbara Beardsworth. For the motorist who knocked her over was not kindness itself, as it seemed, but a lying, cunning rat.

He displayed great concern for her, gave his name and car number right away and even volunteered to take her to hospital.

Imagine her distress, then, when she found that the name he gave was not his, but that of the famous cricketer Imrhan Khan, and that the car number was bogus as well.

Moral: These days, alas, you cannot trust anyone - so insist on proof when a stranger must give you his identity.

For no matter what his apparent concern for your welfare may be, it may well be that saving his own skin is his real priority.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.