Give us a break from volume control freaks

The issue of volume control during ad breaks on TV is not a new one, but a new campaign could be about to break, with the aim of bringing the volume controllers into line.

Headed by one Professor John Fairbrother, the crusade against loud ads has been launched with a petition to the ASA and letters to the national press.

“It’s just not good enough!” he rails. “We all work hard enough during the day and get home tired and stressed. The last thing we need is then to be faced with the nerve-wracking game of trying to grab the remote before the Sky ads wake up the daughter.”

It is – it seems – an issue of national concern.

“This is what people care about, not whether Tony Blair will retire in 12 or 18 months’ time,” he says.

The Diary for one is behind this modern day Wat Tyler’s cause, for many is the time that an afternoon of peaceful sofa-based slumber has been rudely interrupted by the tumultuous on-screen arrival of Barry Scott and his Cillit Bang, or a sudden burst of cheerily upbeat or eerily atmospheric music.

The Diary looks forward to following the progress of the campaign.