THAT’S it, it’s official, this country has gone stark, staring mad.

A girl playing hopscotch outside her house sparked a police warning she was committing criminal damage with a piece of chalk.

This absurd reaction from heavy-handed jobsworths obviously upset and troubled 10-year-old Lily-May.

Whatever can these over-officious dipsticks have been thinking?

Perhaps they don’t want children playing outside, getting exercise, minding their own business and enjoying themselves?

Are there no criminals left to catch or crimes to solve? Talk about a PR own goal — we all want to do everything we can to support our police force, but with idiots like this in uniform then credibility is stretched beyond breaking point.

Don’t they realise a chalk grid is washed away when it rains?

It’s not as if we’re short of rain.

Frankly, she was lucky to find a dry moment between the showers to be outside playing.

Lily-May’s dad made a good point too. If there really was a problem why didn’t they just knock on the door to mention it to him or her mum.

Perhaps it was easier frighten a little girl?

And then, once in the proverbial hole, the politically correct PR machine which now rules every police force in the land continues digging.

Rather than just own up, admit it was a stupid thing to do and say it would try to do better in future, the statement read: “It would not appear to have been necessary to advise the young girl chalking a hopscotch grid may be criminal damage and illegal”.

If this case is typical of the intelligence shown by police officers then we’re in big trouble.