Woman finds freedom laws mean no free man

LONDON (Reuters) - When the government introduced its new freedom of information laws, Angela Wright seized on them as a chance to find an unattached man in uniform.

Wright sent an email to her local police force asking about "eligible bachelors within Hampshire constabulary between the ages of 35 and 49 and details of their email addresses, salary details and pension values", the Guardian reported on Saturday.

But police said the names and addresses were personal and exempt from the laws, which came into force in January. They were prepared to tell her, however, that the Hampshire force had 266 eligible bachelors, of whom 201 were in uniform.

"I was amazed that I was told that the information could not be practically released," said Wright, adding she had two reasons for making her request.

"The first was to amuse the (freedom of information) team. The second was to see what response I could get."