Rigid rules?

You do sometimes wonder, don't you?  The question of whether there should be a life-guard on duty at a beach should surely be decided on the basis of how many people are using the beach, rather than on what the date is?  Whether or not, had there been a life-guard on duty, the recent tragedy at Newquay in Cornwall might have been avoided is open to question, but there seems to be little sense in having the beach supervised up to the end of September and then ignoring the fact that half-term week falls at the end of October and that will be a popular time for surfers to go there.  Sort of smacks of the "computer says no" syndrome, doesn't it?