BLACKBURN butcher Frank Littler's "joke" of sticking a Santa hat on a photograph of terror monster Osama bin Laden and making it a feature of the "Join Our Christmas Club" poster on his market stall may have been too fatuous to be funny.

And I can imagine that it might have been offensive to some people -- either because they believe the terror waged by bin Laden's murderous network is too grave to be made light of, or because a considerable percentage of Muslims in this country apparently believe his war against America is justified.

But whether someone being made fun of in a silly poster is in bad taste or an insult to someone who is evidently an all-right guy in the eyes of some of our fellow citizens, is it actually an offence -- or something for the police to concern themselves about even if it gives offence?

Amazingly, they seem to think it deserved their attention and a request from them for Mr Littler to take his poster down after someone complained to an officer about it.

But hang on, this country is at war against the terror waged by Osama bin Laden, right? Our government has said there is incontrovertible evidence that he was behind the murder of innocent 5,000 people in the attacks in America on September 11, has it not? And bin Laden is wanted "dead or alive," is he not?

What, then, is wrong in ridiculing this country's declared enemy? By the same token, could you imagine a bobby ordering a shopkeeper to take down a stupid poster taking the mickey our of Hitler during the last war?

It is a funny sort of war if it requires kid gloves to be worn on the home front -- when Public Enemy No.1 may not be mocked and the police and civic leaders support such restraint.