Olvasd el és hallgasd meg milyen eszement kérdéseket tesznek fel az ökormányzatoknak Angliában!
Letölthető tartalmak
Am I allowed to keep a crocodile? Bizarre questions to town hall staff.
Where can I find an old bath to fill with custard? Can I keep a crocodile in my back garden?
These were among the many quirky questions posed to council call centre staff in the past 12 months. The Local Government Association has compiled a list of the more bizarre queries from the 50 million calls councils handle each year.
Top of the list was the inquiry to Reigate and Banstead Council as to whether there were any regulations for keeping a crocodile. Another caller to the same local authority wanted to know how long they needed to leave an egg under a lamp for it to hatch. One animal lover contacted Watford Council staff asking them to return an exhausted homing pigeon to its owner. And Sutton Council got the request for a bath to fill with custard.
While the vast majority of calls handled by the 370 local authorities concerned mundane matters such as waste collection and council tax, a few people wanted unusual advice.
A concerned resident called Warwickshire Council asking if it would be wise to remove their photos of crop circles from the internet to protect national security. And call centre staff at Newark and Sherwood District Council were left scratching their heads after being asked if they knew how to grow mangoes.
Councillor Peter Fleming, chairman of the LGA’s improvement and innovation board, said: “These light-hearted examples show the wide range of issues council staff deals with each day. Councils try to help callers with support and advice as much as they possibly can. While the vast majority of calls fall within the bounds of councils’ usual responsibilities, there are occasions when call handlers are left baffled.”
to be allowed to– valakinek meg van engedve valami
town hall – városháza, önkormányzat
staff – személyzet
custard – sodó
quirky – furcsán szokatlan
to pose a question to – feltenni egy kérdést
call centre – telefonos ügyfélszolgálat
government – kormány, kormányzás
association – egyesület, szövetség
to comply – eleget tenni, teljesíteni
query –kérdés, lekérdezés
inquiry – érdeklődés
regulation – szabályozás
local authority – helyi hatóság
to hatch – kikelni, kikelteni (tojás)
exhausted – kimerült
homing pigeon – postagalamb
request – kérés, igény
vast majority of – nagy többsége valaminek
to concern – érinteni valamit
mundane matters – földi/halandó dolgok/ügyek
waste collection – hulladék gyűjtés
council tax – helyi adó
unusual advice – szokatlan tanács
resident – lakos
wise – bölcs
to remove – eltávolítani
crop circle – gabonakör
to protect – védeni, védelmezni
national security – nemzetbiztonság
to scratch – vakarni
chairman – elnök
improvement – fejlesztés, fejlődés
innovation board – fejlesztési tanács
light-hearted – vidám, vicces
to deal – foglalkozni valamivel
support – támogatni
to fall within the bounds of – valaminek a határai közé esni
usual responsibilities – szokásos felelősség(i körök)
occasion – alkalom
baffled – összezavart, zavarba ejtett
