BY a sad twist of fate, the shocking killing of PC Jeff Tooley came only hours after I'd been out on patrol with Shoreham police. News of his death came through on the radio as I sat writing their story. I felt gutted.

You couldn't find a better bunch of people anywhere than Jeff's colleagues at Shoreham police station.

To think that these calm, courteous and dedicated men and women should have lost one of their own in such dreadful circumstances must shame all those like myself who have knocked the police in the past.

When I wrote here that Shoreham police lacked resources to fight a spate of petty crime, Inspector Bob Brown, the station commander, challenged me to see for myself how Sussex Police have made the area one of the safest in Britain.

That's how I came to be riding in the back of a multi-striped car patrolling Shoreham - siren wailing and blue light flashing every few minutes.

Behind the wheel was PC Steve Hills, 24, alongside WPC Zoe Hubbard, 25. Talk to them for a few minutes and you know why our police are the best in the world. They're cool, confident and fearless.

Both have been punched, spat on and sworn at, invariably by those who have reason to hate the police.

Neither shows any sign of stress as they roar through the streets to tackle anything from burglar alarms going off by mistake to drunken brawls.

They don't "chase" cars these days. "Follow" is the new word. Recently Steve "followed" a stolen car at 85mph through the centre of Brighton.

Patrol cars operate at the sharp end from divisional HQ in Hove, while 50 traffic officers - like PC Tooley - cover much of Sussex from Shoreham. On the ground are the community beat officers who look after a specific area.

PC Andy Misrahi was well pleased with himself when he took me out on patrol. He'd just seen paedophile Alan Payne, 52, go down for five years for assaults on two boys. Andy played a key part in securing the conviction.

"That's what community policing is all about," Andy told me. "Knowing your patch and the people on it. They trust me and I trust them to give me a nod if anyone is up to mischief."

Andy, 36, seems to know half the people on his beat in north Southwick by their first names and is familiar with every turning. He patrols north Southwick on foot, solving problems with a few quiet words and a large dose of common sense.

"The nicest thing of all," he says, "is when you've managed to help and people say, 'Thank you very much, Andy'."

And so say all of us. I came and saw and was conquered - and promise to be more careful with my words next time I write about the police.

TUCKED away in a cosy shed in the corner of a field is the bravest group of people I've ever encountered - men and women struck down with multiple sclerosis.

They come here every week to spend an hour in a decompression chamber of the kind used by deep sea divers. There's no cure for MS, but the oxygenation therapy creates energy and brings some relief.

It costs £6 a session - if they can afford it.

The independent centre is open to all and demand is growing. So much so that it has just launched a drive to raise £500,000 for a bigger and better facility.

If you can help, write to the Sussex MS Treatment Centre, Southwick Recreation Ground, Croft Avenue, Southwick, or phone 001273 594484.

I HARDLY know the difference between a pansy and a petunia, but these days I've become a keen fan of gardening. You can guess why. Yes, that fine horticultural specimen named Charlie.

They say Charlie Dimmock's appeal lies in her 36B bra-less chest. I put it down most to the Amazon factor - mere men dream she'll burst from the screen and carry them off to her jungle lair.

Poor old Alan Titchmarsh, her co-presenter on BBC TV's Ground Force, looks like a garden gnome beside those tanned limbs and golden locks.

Charlie, from Southampton, scoffs at the idea anyone would call her sexy. "I'm size 12 to 14," she says, "weigh 10 stone, am 5ft 6in tall, 32 years old and getting a double chin."

Just as I said - a rare specimen.

TREVOR McDonald and Martin Bashir have been tripped up by the expenses lark, an old Fleet Street trick meant to prevent trouble, not encourage it.

They came unstuck trying to make a big bang for the launch of Trevor's Tonight series on ITV.

Someone suggested Martin should interview the five men accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence six years ago, but obviously all hell would break loose if they paid a fee.

Ah, expenses, that's the answer. Give 'em a posh holiday in Scotland.

Newspapers have been playing the expenses lark for years to get over the problem of paying fees for people involved in anti-social crimes.

Journalism has a code of conduct forbidding payment to convicted criminals and those suspected of wrongdoing.

Unfortunately the two newsmen didn't count on newspapers doing the dirty by revealing one of Fleet Street's oldest tricks.

Aclear case of sour grapes.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.