HEAR a cry of pain echo through the corridors of the European Parliament building in Brussels and you can be confident of the cause. Yet another person has gouged their leg as they crashed into an old tin trunk.

The certainty stems from the fact that the office corridors are strewn with these objects, probably in complete defiance of every health and safety regulation. They are the "Strasbourg Trunks", and every MEP has one, sitting outside each office. Into them from time to time will be hurled books and papers which may be needed during Strasbourg Week.

Because the European Parliament does not have just one huge parliament building, but two -- and they are 300 miles apart! Although the Parliament is based in Brussels, once a month the entire establishment of 626 MEPs and more than 2,000 staff and interpreters has to move to the French city of Strasbourg.

Here there is another parliament building. It is brand new, and equipped with its own debating chamber, committee rooms and thousands of offices.

You may think this 'travelling circus' arrangement is odd. When you realise that it costs taxpayers across Europe the best part of £100 million each year, you are entitled to demand that it be stopped immediately.

The MEPs want to do just that. The Leader of the British Labour group resigned last year saying that he could no longer stand the constant travelling.

Recently we voted by 401 to 77 to be able to decide for ourselves where the Parliament should sit. Given the chance there is no doubt that we would insist on meeting only in one place. So why don't we do this? The answer is that European treaties make it a legal requirement for Parliament to meet in Strasbourg 12 times a year. This rule is rigid. The European Parliament does not sit during August, and because of this we have to go to Strasbourg 'twice' in October in order to comply with the law. Before you start condemning all things European for this nonsense, you should know that the treaty which first imposed this rule was signed by John Major. Since then Tony Blair has signed a more recent one. Both treaties were ratified by Westminster MPs in the House of Commons.

MEPs can only make a heartfelt plea to our national governments to change the rules and give the European Parliament just one home.

If only to save our sore legs from being battered again by those wretched trunks!

Chris Davies

Liberal Democrat MEP for the North West