A cautionary tale—but for whom?

WAITING for repairs to his van to be completed, boater Tony Dunkley decided to take a walk alongside the Nottingham Canal with his dog Betsy, writes Pam Pickett.

Now having found a seat on which to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet, and the sunshine, the last thing Tony expected was to find a cyclist coming out of nowhere at full pelt and about to pass him by too close for comfort.

Into the canal

Until now, Betsy had been quietly lying at Tony's feet. However, startled by the speed and proximity of the cyclist she shot out onto the path and barked, the cyclist swerved, and going far too fast to stop, continued onward straight into the canal. No need for a push, here!

Now standing up to his armpits in water this cyclist was obviously not best pleased.

Both Tony and Betsy were accused of making him lose his bike. Tony though quickly reassured him that if he paddled around a bit he'd find his bike, but not to worry if he couldn't, he'd probably find plenty of others in there!

Call the police

However, with the bike finally found and out of the water this cyclist, now with weed hanging from his cycling helmet, obtained when he found his bike by falling over it, advised Tony that the matter was not going to rest there, he was going to call the police to report dainty little Betsy as a dog 'dangerously out of control in a public place'.

Fishing somewhere in the depths of his Lycra, he then pulled out his mobile phone to do so, only to find the phone to be inconveniently wet, and to be of no use.

In reply to a demand that Tony give his name and address Tony says he advised that his name was Tony, his dogs name was Betsy, and that if anything were to be 'dangerously out of control in a public place' here, it certainly wasn't Betsy!