LIKE millions of others, I listened to PC Wayne Marques’ interview last week in awe of his heroism.

He was the British Transport Police officer who took on the three London Bridge attackers responsible for killing eight people and injuring 48 more.

They were armed with knives, he was armed with a truncheon. Without a thought for his own safety, he battled with terrorists who appeared to be wearing explosive belts. The death toll would surely have been higher had it not been for his incredible courage. The man is the personification of all that’s good about our police officers and he deserves the highest honour.

As I listened to his moving account of what happened, I found myself questioning my long-held belief that British police officers should not carry guns. I have a daughter in London and a son in Manchester and I began to wonder if I’d crossed the divide. Perhaps the time had come where I’d feel safer if the likes of PC Marques could fire bullets rather than having to rely on truncheons.

The next day, I spoke to Durham’s Chief Constable Mike Barton, below, to ask his views on this troubling subject. Not only does he head up Britain’s highest ranked police force but he’s the national lead on crime for the Government. This is what he said: “I understand why you might feel like that but I think you’re wrong. We must never let policy be dictated by events outside of the norm. It remains my view that arming police officers with guns must be strictly off-limits. We can never police County Durham and Darlington, or other parts of this country, as an army of occupation.

The Northern Echo:

“Officers should be armed – but with Tasers, not guns. A Taser is precisely what you want in situations like that faced by PC Marques because they take the attacker down without inflicting fatal injuries.

“And remember, we still have access to armed response units in emergencies. In the case of the London Bridge attack, armed officers were on the scene in a matter of minutes.

“Once you give cops guns, you fundamentally change the relationship between the police and the public, and the many millions of interactions that are at the heart of effective policing. The bottom line is that people would be less inclined to approach a police officer if they were armed with a gun and those interactions are our access into the community.

“Those who believe we should give police officers guns as standard are saying we’ve lost – and I don’t think we have.”

Suffice to say, I’ve no longer crossed the divide.

ONTO more light-hearted matters and the story that’s generated more social activity than any I can remember during all my dabblings on Twitter.

I’m not sure Jel Singh Nagra quite knew what he was starting when he named his corner shop Singhbury’s.

When the supermarket giant threatened him with legal action, he didn’t turn a hair – he simply changed it to Morrisinghs.

The Northern Echo:

The story went mad. Within hours, it had been shared 10,000 times on my Twitter account alone. Clearly, the thought of the little David getting one over the supermarket Goliaths struck a chord.

To be fair, Morrisons saw the way the wind was blowing and gave Mr Nagra their blessing. Good on them, although by then, they’d have been foolish to do anything else given the whirlwind of support for the little corner shopkeeper.

Of the many responses that flooded in was a message from Nigel Dowson, of Cockfield, who recalled the time a hairdresser friend had named his salon in Shildon “British Hairways” and had to change it. How sad.

Former BBC Tees boss Matthew Barraclough also got in touch with news that there’d once been a fish and chip shop in Stanley called Harry Ramadan’s. It’s not there now – presumably they were battered into submission.

And Darlington Punch and Judy legend Brian Llewellyn was quick to send this picture taken while he was on holiday in Fuengirola last year.

The Northern Echo:

Meanwhile, the chiropodists in Leyburn continues to proudly call itself Toes R Us without having to foot the bill for any kind of legal defence.

Long may our shopkeepers continue to be a little bit enterprisingh.

THAT said, I fully appreciate that branding’s all-important when it comes to business.

It’s not so long ago that I turned up to speak at a ladies’ luncheon club in deepest North Yorkshire and the chairman asked: “Have you brought any plants with you?”

“No, why?” I asked.

“You are Peter Barratt from the garden centres, aren’t you?” came the reply.

FINALLY, what great news to see a £20m investment at Darlington Memorial Hospital, with six new operating theatres being unveiled.

But did they really need to be described in The Northern Echo as “cutting edge”?