Ross Clark, a writer with an angry swarm of bees in his bonnet, leaves no stone unturned in his mission to expose how far we have sunk into a Kafkaesque world of intrusive and often pointless nannying. But he does it with such a light touch that the barrage of bonkers bureaucracy never palls.

Have you ever thrown your arms up in despair while trying to
complete an official form and asked yourself "Just what is the point of
this?" You're not alone.

Red tape in Britain has reached epidemic proportions. In just 12 months the
Government produced a shocking 3,621 pieces of legislation, running to a
total of 98,600 pages. That's 70 times as long as War and Peace!

If it wasn't so serious, it would be quite funny.

In this new book, Ross Clark exposes some of the most petty and bizarre
rules and regulations which are blighting the lives of Britons today. From
the 45 pages of instructions on how to correctly label a goat (or sheep) to
the impact that being a deep-sea diver might have on your tax return.

Among his other discoveries are:

That there are 279 different tax forms for businesses alone, asking a total
of 6,614 questions.

The notes explaining the Treasury's 'simplified' pensions' regime ran to
1,369 pages.

The law allows you to kill or give away a bullfinch - but not to sell or
barter it.

A woman from Kilbride was given an ASBO forbidding her from answering the
door in her underwear.

A council spent �5,000 planting yew trees to screen a new children's play
area. It then dug them up again after health and safety experts advised
children could fall ill if they gobbled 'several handfuls' of leaves.

All completely true and all contained, along with hundreds of others, in
this eye-opening new book.

Red tape and more red tape...

One Police force discovered that it had a total of 1,150 different forms on
which to report crimes.

There are 1,300 pages of road traffic law - and that does not even include
the law preventing petrol stations selling hot food after 11pm unless they
apply for a licence.

Employers must not hold important meetings on 31 October - it might
discriminate against pagans, who, of course, celebrate the festival of
Samhain on that day.

A motorist in Waltham Forest, East London, was fined for parking on double
yellow lines that were not even there when he parked his car. The lorry
painting the lines had drawn around the stationary vehicle.

The following things have been reported to be banned in at least one
school: making daisy chains (risk of picking up germs); playing hopscotch
(risk of injury); making anything out of egg boxes (fear of salmonella);
putting hands up (makes pupils who don't have the answers feel victimised);
and throwing paper aeroplanes (might cause eye injuries)...

Have you ever thrown your arms up in despair while trying to fill in an official form and asked yourself "Just what is the point of this?" You are not the only one. Red tape in Britain has reached epidemic proportions. In just 12 months, the Government produced a shocking 3621 pieces of legislation, running to a total of 98,600 pages. That is 70 times as long as War and Peace. If it wasn't so serious it would be quite funny. In this volume, Ross Clark exposes some of the most petty and bizarre rules and regulations which are blighting the lives of Britons today. Among his discoveries are: That there are 279 different tax forms for businesses alone, asking a total of 6614 questions; The notes explaining the Treasury's 'simpilified' pensions' regime ran to 1369 pages; One Police force discovered that it had a total of 1150 different forms on which to report crimes; There are 1300 pages of road traffic law - and that does not even include the law preventing petrol stations selling hot food after 11pm unless they apply for a licence; and A council spent GBP5000 planting yew trees to screen a new children's play area.

It then dug them up again after health and safety experts advised children could fall ill if they gobbled 'several handfuls' of leaves.

Ross Clark is a journalist who has written extensively for The
Times, The Sunday Telegraph and Mail on Sunday. For some years he wrote a
column in The Spectator entitled 'Banned Waggon' which exposed, week by
week, the Government's obsession with stopping us doing things. He also
writes a regular column for Real Business Magazine, looking at the impact
of regulation on business.