YOU see them around the city in every kind of weather, all fluorescent jackets, three days' growth, and with their shovels or pruning shears invariably at the ready.

To some extent, it's a thankless task. The odds always appear to be stacked against them, yet the work seems to be done in an unflagging, constant spirit of optimism. Neither vandal nor inclement weather can daunt them in their endeavours.

I'm talking about Worcester's council workmen, a group so easily overlooked as we hurry about our daily business. Only the other day, I watched a number of this sterling breed planting a tree.

It was a mature sapling, so should provide a little bit more of a challenge for Worcester's brain-dead when they attempt to snap or rip it out by the roots. But fair play to them, these workmen were installing that little tree into its earthen berth with all the goodnight-tenderness of a mother laying her child in its cot.

Over the last few years, Worcester City Council has devoted more of its energies to maintaining the quality of our environment. Mud deposits caused by flooding are speedily power-washed off the riverside walk these days - once, they were just left - and the banks are trimmed back to just the right degree.

In the very near future, the hanging baskets so beloved of Worcester people will be turning the riverside near Croft Road into a mind-swirling mass of colours, soon to form the backdrop on a thousand photographs yet to be taken by happy tourists.

So here's to Worcester's council workmen and women. And if you've been on strike this week, don't worry - most people now see this double-dealing Government for what it is.