Oswestry’s firefighters were told they could not wash cars for charity  — because the soapy water could pollute streams. It’s just another example of The Rules.

Firemen and women across Britain washed cars at fire stations on Saturday to raise money for the Firefighters’ Charity.

But, thanks to a ruling by the Environment Agency, the Oswestry station did not join in.

The Agency says that because the station is built over a watercourse, the car wash could not go ahead (despite the fact it was for only a couple of hours and didn’t involve Napalm or Agent Orange). It’s the rules.

Meanwhile, shropshirestar.com has been kept busy with stories about shops refusing to sell alcohol to adults because they are with young people.

It doesn’t matter that the adult isn’t trying to buy beer for the minor, it seems that just being with someone under the age of 18 can be enough to see normal service withdrawn.

One man, an engineer, wrote to tell us that he walked out of a county supermarket after it refused to serve him.

The reason? He wasn’t wearing this reading glasses and had asked his 16-year-old daughter to check the label.

Sorry, said the checkout assistant, you could be buying that for your daughter. I can’t serve you. It’s the rules.

As a result the man (an engineer) and his wife (a teacher) left their shopping at the till and walked out. That assistant’s rigid adherance to the rules cost his or her bosses more than £100 in lost sales.

Now, obviously there should be rules to stop adults buying alcohol for youngsters. That’s entirely sensible and correct.

But the trouble is these rules seem to be applied without any sense. Shops sometimes appear to operate without any thought or logic, resulting in some very unhappy customers.

One Bridgnorth parent wrote to say that her 16-year-old daughter had tried to buy her dad a 15-certificate DVD as a present.

Sadly the assistant would not serve her because she had no ID. It’s the rules.

The mother then tried to buy it — but the assistant would not serve her because she was buying it for her daughter. It’s the rules.

Eventually the manager became involved and good sense prevailed. It’s — actually, no, it seems to be an exception to the rules.

We have plenty of examples of people being refused goods they are perfectly entitled to buy.

One 38-year-old woman complained that a shop wouldn’t sell her Bucks Fizz because she could not prove that she is over 18.

As one correspondant asked, “Where did this completely over-the-top approach come from?”

It’s a good question, and one that we’d like to answer on your behalf.

So, if you’re a mum of two who was refused a bottle of wine in a supermarket, tell us what happened in the comment box below.

Perhaps the council or some other organisation told your choir it couldn’t sing hymns because they “could cause offence” — tell us your story and we’ll look into it.

Was your wheely bin in slightly the wrong position one morning so the binmen refused to empty it? We want to know.

Or were you told you couldn’t photograph your own children or family members in an open public space because — well, you know, you can’t be too careful, can you?

If that’s happened, tell us. We’ll look into it.

Simply fill in the comments box below or email us here.

Who knows, with a little bit of luck and a few well-chosen questions, we might once again get good sense to prevail in Shropshire.