HAD to smile at a little courtroom echo, forwarded by a St Helens reader, Mrs Worsley, which shines some light on a wartime regulation that must have been wiped off the statute book long, long ago.

It is a yellowing, typewritten letter addressed to the local magistrates and excusing a Knowsley Road 'culprit' from attending court to answer a summons of flashing a hand torch during the Blackout.

The miscreant explained: "I plead ignorant of the fact that a law was in force making the shielding of hand-torches compulsory.

"I have, however, taken steps to put the matter right and can assure you that my light will, in future, be well screened."

It all sounds a bit quaint now, but it amounted to quite a serious business back in 1940, when even the flare of a match or a chink of light from a carelessly-drawn curtain could alert German bombers to their built-up night targets.

THAT bit of memorabilia takes me back to times when the urgent shout of 'Put that light out!' issuing from eagle-eyed ARP wardens patrolling the blackened streets, was a familiar wartime sound.

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