If you think the credit crunch is bad here in the UK, spare a thought for teachers in Pennsylvania.

In an attempt to reduce fuel bills, administrators there have decided to clamp down on “rogue coffee pots and microwaves” that staff may have in school for personal use.

Given that many teachers would cite a cup of coffee as one of their main motivations for getting out of bed in the morning - only slightly behind the challenge of inspiring young minds - it’s perhaps not a policy many UK local authorities should consider implementing.

One wonders what the unions would make of any attempt to diminish the availability of the vital substance. Clearly Ted Heath missed a trick in the 1970s - had he instituted the one-coffee pot school, not the three-day week, we’d never have heard of Margaret Thatcher.