Where are you?

Has the idea of thwarting double glazing and kitchen salesmen prompted more than half the town's voters to ban their names from appearing on the publicly-available electoral register?

It could also be that another section of the populace isn't too keen to let credit-check companies know exactly where they live!

Whatever the reason, Worthing reference library in Richmond Road now has just three slimline volumes of names and addresses for the public to peruse in place of the eight bulky tomes previously available.

And it's all down to a little tick box on the last voters registration form which people were invited to fill in if they did not want their names and addresses available to all and sundry.

Robina Edser, West Sussex County Council's regional librarian, told the Herald this week: "I think the main reason is that people don't want to be bothered by salesmen selling double glazing, new kitchens, etc.

"I think it is a shame, really, because it is for the future, especially with people trying to track down their relatives. Quite a number of sources to do this are declining rapidly. We find people coming to Worthing from all over the world, trying to trace relatives. It is a shame because there is nothing else they can use, apart from the telephone directory, and even this is limited now because people have gone ex-directory or they are no longer with BT."

Miss Edser said it all started about four years ago when a man living in the North of England took his local authority to court, opposing the council's right to sell lists of voters' names to other organisations.

The complainant won his case and local councils had to think again about making the names publicly available.

"For two years, Worthing didn't make any names available at all," she continued. "But after voters were given a choice of having their names published, the council decided to list those who did not object.

"But when more people become aware that they can 'opt out', then I can see even more names disappearing from this slimmed-down version of the electoral roll."

Miss Edser said that borough council staff had the full list, of course, but access to it was very restricted.