TRADERS have hit out at the police for losing them thousands of pounds as it took four hours to deal with what turned out to be a false alarm at a Burnley town centre bank.

The area was sealed off until the situation was assessed, leaving businesspeople counting the cost of a morning's missed takings. Now they're whingeing.

Come on, this is real life. It's not Burnside or Dirty Harry with cop heroes dodging make-believe bullets. There could have been armed robbers inside.

Did they really expect the average beat bobby to barge in there and risk life and limb, armed only with a truncheon? Suppose they had done. Suppose someone was killed. Suppose robbers took hostages then drove through a shop window or riddled shops with bullets?

Oh yes, I suppose then they'd be whingeing.