It’s a lock-out for car-less dignitary

10:09am Saturday 5th July 2008

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Never mind the keys of mayoral office - what about the keys to the mayor's car?

That was the dilemma facing Hounslow mayor Genevieve Hibbs when she was on her way to an official engagement last Saturday morning.

She was first scheduled to join members of the Isleworth Society at its session collecting litter and tidying undergrowth starting with the war memorial at the junction of Twickenham Road and South Street.

Coun Hibbs duly arrived in her 10-year-old Renault Clio from her home in Hayes at just after 11am, resplendent in her robes of office.

She told the Hounslow and Brentford Times: "I parked in a space nearby that had been arranged for me. I got out of my car and very carefully locked myself out," she joked, adding: "which I didn't discover until it was time to leave."

Coun Hibbs said her mind was on the engagement ahead as she pulled up and confessed what many busy people felt: "I think I must have a minor degree of attention deficit disorder, so that usually I make sure that I don't close the driver's door without the keys in my hand.

"But this time I left them in the ignition, which I haven't done for 10 years."

On discovering she was going nowhere, the mayor calmly got out her mobile phone and called the RAC, which arrived within half an hour to liberate the keys and allow the borough's first citizen to continue her civic round.

The mayor said: "Where better in the world to be waiting in all my glory than standing in the sunshine in the middle of Isleworth."

Transport for official duties is provided to Hounslow Council by contract.

On taking office, Coun Hibbs indicated her willingness to use her own transport, as did her predecessor.