Anti-social behaviour involving drugs, alcohol and fighting in the street. Where oh where could this be happening? Manchester city centre on a Saturday night maybe?

No, it’s at picturesque Pickmere Lake. Why could this be, I hear you ask. Well, the simple answer is people, too many of them.

Once the sun comes out, this popular beauty spot becomes just too popular resulting in carelessly parked cars blocking the narrow country lanes, inevitably leading to traffic chaos and frustrated drivers.

As one resident told the Guardian: “We’re having to go up there and direct traffic out round the back of Pickmere and also get in the middle and break up fights because people are getting frustrated, they’re not moving.

“We’ve had examples where residents’ bins haven’t been collected because bin lorries can’t pass down through the parked cars.

“We’ve also instances where ambulances and fire engines have not been able to get down.

“And we are seeing an increasing amount of anti-social behaviour with drug taking and excess littering, which includes human excrement, because the facilities are inadequate for the volume of people that come down here.”

Personally, I wouldn’t go within 20 miles of Pickmere Lake when the sun shines and crowds flock there, it’s just not worth it, and given this isn’t a new problem, I really can’t see the attraction. But I also have a certain amount of sympathy for the residents.

While I concede the visitors have a right to try to enjoy the ‘delights’ of Pickmere Lake, they certainly do not have the right block roads or leave their mess behind. It’s just irresponsible and the first step to tackling the problem should be some fairly severe litter enforcement penalties and parking tickets.

We’ve had some fine words from Cheshire East Council’s High Legh councillor Kate Parkinson, who represents Pickmere, saying: “I want assurance that you [the council] is open to getting around a table with all the civil authorities to find a positive solution to help the residents of Pickmere.”

She was backed up by Cheshire East’s deputy leader Craig Browne who said he would support Cllr Parkinson and suggested getting the council’s anti-social behaviour team and the multi-agency action group - which includes the police - involved.

I think the time for words is over. It’s time for action for the sake not only of the residents but also for those who want to enjoy the lake.

On a completely different topic, I had to nip to Gloucestershire on Friday last week. It was only after I’d set off that I realised I’d picked one of the worst days of the year to be heading in the general direction of the West County – the first day of the school summer holidays.

Needless to say, my journey was pretty rubbish.

Never mind, I thought. I should be fine for the return leg given I was due to leave at 8pm.

To be fair, most of the trip was fine. The M5 was clear, there weren’t any problems around Birmingham and in my naivety, I thought I was going to do it in record time.

Of course, I hadn’t factored in the ‘phantom’ Cheshire roadworks. Somewhere around the Staffordshire-Cheshire border, the warning signs started to appear telling us drivers about queuing traffic.

Our speed was gradually reduced to 40 miles an hour and then signs started to warn of impending lane closures, not one lane, not two lanes but the first three lanes on the four-lane motorway.

All traffic was forced into the fast lane (although it was a very slow lane at this point). And then…nothing. No accident, no roadworks, no animals or pedestrians in the road, just completely empty motorway stretching away into the distance and a couple of hundred yards down the road a ‘road clear’ sign.

So I would like to tender a metaphorical middle finger to whoever was responsible. You made a lot of drivers very, very angry.