Our lead story tomorrow is about how thousands of trainspotters at North-East railway stations have been questioned by police as suspected terrorists.

I'll admit to having always been a little bit baffled by trainspotting as a hobby. I can't for the life of me see where the pleasure lies.

Nevertheless, I'm a great "each to his own" advocate and it seems sad to me that an innocent and age-old pastime should become tainted due to the fear of terrorism.

The police have an unenviable job in fighting terror. They have to find an impossible balance between being vigiliant and straying into harassment.

But the terrorists will have won if we allow them to change the way we lead our lives and impinge on the basic rights of people to enjoy their chosen hobbies.