CRAWLING under an articulated gas pipeline lorry with a noose around your neck may not be the most sensible way to pass a Friday morning.

But Meirion Bowen, of Llandybie, claims he had no option after the county council denied him access to traffic plans for this vast and hugely expensive project.

The National Grid pipeline stretching across Wales has aroused huge controversy and a host of critics.

But what has become apparent to us here at the Guardian is that many of the people raising safety concerns over these huge trucks have no particular axe to grind.

The fact the pipeline passes close to their homes may not concern them overly - the horrific prospect of a child being run over by one of these metallic monsters obviously does.

In recent weeks the Guardian has taken phone calls and carried letters from readers alarmed and appalled at what they regard as the increasing danger on our roads posed by such vehicles.

The fact that National Grid say all pipe transportation should be completed within three weeks - weather permitting - is scarcely reassuring.

All it would take is a single fatality for public opinion to swing irretrievably against a project we are constantly being told will be of enormous benefit to the United Kingdom.