Rate payers? Irate payers more like, says Ben Bentley. And it doesn’t take much to set them off.

A protest in Wem over housing proposals for Prees

Police described him as being in his mid-20s, of medium to large build, and wearing tracksuit bottoms.

But, regardless of age, weight and fondness of sportswear, on a bad day he might well have been any one of us.

The man, who tried to board a bus in Lord Silkin Way in Telford, had seen red when he tried to pay his fare in two-pence pieces – and was told by the female driver she could only accept 20 pence worth of his fee in that denomination.

That was it. He flipped. As the bus pulled away from the stop, the glass in the entrance-door shattered. It is believed the angered passenger had showered the bus with small change.

It was the latest display in a rising tide of discontent and easily triggered temper tantrums – many of which often have their roots in the economic downturn.

According to the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, people are becoming increasingly short-fused, and consequently it doesn’t take much to tip us over the edge.

And it’s easy to see why this might be. A bank that won’t lend you money but will pay its staff bonuses for losing your savings does rankle. A call centre that puts you on hold to a cover version of Simply Red’s Money’s Too Tight To Mention when all you want to do is pay a gas bill is prone to rubbing a human being up the wrong way.

Minor irritants and frustrations can cause us to storm out of the hair salon, slam the phone down on cold-callers and hurl verbal abuse in the street.

Heather Cawley, from Stirchley in Telford, admits she's prone to temper tantrums

Heather Cawley, an office manager from Stirchley, is known to throw temper tantrums at the television. She can’t watch the quiz show Eggheads without her blood boiling.

In her job, too, she can be quite feisty.

She admits: “Its my job to complain about everything. I thoroughly enjoy doing it too! I generally won’t take no for an answer, and try and get my own way as much as possible. I have had reps stopped from coming to my place of work, delivery drivers stopped for driving too fast.

“Why not complain? They are being paid to do a job, and they don’t do it properly. So they need to be told!”

Shropshire Council’s call centre in Shrewsbury is the interface between taxpayer and service provider. Irate callers have been known to vocalise their feelings down the phone lines here.

Manager Melinda Swanborough says that people, and especially taxpayers, are often looking for more value for money at the moment and there is a culture of blame to fall back on when this isn’t seen to be the case.

“I think there’s a trend in the last few years for people to be more exacting in what they expect and not to be fobbed off, and sometimes people perceive that call centres are put in to fob people off – and that might be true in some cases,” she says.

Call centre manager Melinda Swanborough says people don't like being fobbed-off

“The public perception is that if you cannot answer their question, their expectations are so much higher.”

It is apparently the smaller things in life that are making us angry.

She continues: “I would say that people get irritated about waste collection. Other things where you might expect them to be more perturbed, they aren’t.

“People expect value for money and everyone knows that part of their council tax is put towards the likes of potholes and waste, and if they feel they are not getting value for money, they say so.

“People are more likely to complain now than in the past because they are encouraged to. They tend to see that the people who make the most noise get the most response.”

John Mustapha, owner of the popular Masala restaurant in St Julian’s Friars, Shrewsbury, gets very few complaints from customers, but describes how people now expect instant service, which might be an impossibility with fewer staff working because of the economic slowdown.

He says: “I had someone complain on Valentine’s night where the lady was waiting half an hour for her food. We had a full house with 60 people. She was not really happy and a couple at a table nearby started laughing that maybe they should complain as well.”

He adds: “People think that as soon as they walk to the pub or restaurant they will get served straight away but those days are gone because staff are short-handed. Because business is slower everywhere they have to cut down on manpower. People have to realise it’s an economic crisis.”

Interestingly, BUPA Wellness service says its doctors have been dealing with an increasing number of city workers and bankers.

Psychologists say anger is understandable but we must find a outlet for it other than blowing our gaskets in public.

Phillip Hodgson, a fellow of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, refers to it as “recession and irritation”.

“There’s no point in getting worked up about something you can’t control,” he says.

“In the words of that old prayer: ‘God grant me the wisdom to know the difference between things I can change, and those I can’t’.

“We should try to work on the relevant bits,” he advises. “Many people in Britain have steam coming out of their ears about the behaviour of government, bankers, the market, and yes, even God.

“But we’re not going to have a lot of input into any of the above.”

No, but in terms of letting off steam at certain bankers it might make a few people feel a bit better.