THE Ledbury Reporter's columnist Bellman was very acid-tongued about rock 'n' roll and its followers 50 years ago.

Inspired by a forthcoming showing of Rock Around the Clock at a Hereford cinema, the anonymous scribe recounted a visit by one of his colleagues on the paper to a "jive parlour" in a north-country seaside town.

"The exhibition of degraded humanity in that dancehall would have disgusted the most callous cynic," thundered Bellman. "Lights low, with the band turning out a throbbing jungle rhythm, couples entwined together swayed round like snakes."

Further comparing the dancers to "crawling sinuous creatures" and "trained apes", he went on: "These types of places and the men who run them, play a large part in furthering the things that are rapidly providing a national social problem - Teddy Boys, juvenile crime, etc.

"Be thankful then that we in Ledbury have no such places. It must be admitted that there isn't a great deal for young people to do in Ledbury, but at least we have no 'snake-pits' to ensnare and corrupt the young."