We’ve not heard much about the hooded youth terrorising our shopping centres recently, but with a greater focus on leisure, malingerers are bound to be even more attracted to their shiny open spaces. Fortunately we need only look to the ever inventive Chinese for a solution.
Park officials in China have found a way to stop people from hogging their benches for too long - by fitting steel spikes on a coin-operated timer.
If visitors at the Yantai Park in Shangdong province, eastern China, linger too long without feeding the meter, dozens of sharp spikes shoot through the seat. The spikes are too short to cause any serious harm - but long enough to prevent people from sitting on them comfortably!
At SnapShop, we think there’s scope for even greater inventiveness: If mobile phone tracking shows said youth is missing from home or indeed breaking his ASBO, those spikes could be replaced with hooks to hold him in place ‘til his Mum arrives. Any other ideas? Let us know.
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