The police community support officer (PCSO) who stopped Mr Overs was taken aback by his indignation. She told him she had stopped lots of people taking pictures that same afternoon "and nobody complained". No doubt many were foreign tourists, who must have thought we have gone mad – an assessment amply confirmed by what happened to Andrew White, from Brighton, East Sussex. Last week, he was taking pictures of the Christmas lights in nearby Burgess Hill, on his way to work, when two PCSOs asked him what he was up to and why he was taking so many pictures in a busy area. Mr White, an amateur photographer who works for a financial services firm, was required to give his personal details to the officers.