I like my robot stories and I saw a classic one this week on The Daily Telegraph website which made me laugh quite a lot.  Don’t get me wrong, I am far from a robot wars-type geek, but I love seeing the inventiveness of people out there…especially when the end results are - quite frankly - a bit rubbish. 

The robot has been built by a former US Marine bar owner and patrols the streets of Atlanta moving in on undesirables from the local neighbourhood. The robot, which has been christened the “Bum Bot”, is equipped with a panoply of glaring lights, an infrared camera and a water cannon in a spinning turret and, according to the piece, is waist-high, weighs about 300lb and is emblazoned with the word “SECURITY”.

The Bum Bot has been on patrol since September, angering some neighbours and the city’s homeless, who say the talking red box is intimidating. However when you read further you discover that the contraption is not a robot at all. It is remotely controlled by its designer, Mr Terrill, who can transmit messages through its loudspeaker, giving the Bum Bot a voice.

Mr Terrill also admitted that he transmits the robot’s video view to the bar’s 60-inch television so his customers can watch. Thankfully we are quite lucky in The Three Mile Cross with local crime limited to littering, bad taste in music and the odd gun factory, but - if we do ever need a law enforcer - I know who I will be calling.

Paul Stallard