SO whatever happened to the "special relationship"?

Any notion that such a pact of friendliness exists between Britain and the US must ring hollow to Teresa Humphries.

Teresa has worked as a civil servant in York for nearly five years, yet now her bosses at the Meat Hygiene Service have ended her contract - because she is American.

It is possible to wonder if they might not have noticed this before.

Teresa has been dismissed under an outdated piece of legislation, the 1919 Aliens Restriction Act, which prevents foreign nationals working as civil servants. She was told her contract was unlawful and "thereby null and void".

The problem, in the eyes of her employers, is that Teresa, who is married to a York man and lives in the city, still holds an American passport. Although she has a visa which allows her to remain and work in Britain indefinitely, having a US passport has cost Teresa her job.

There are times when it is possible to despair at the dull and clanking ways of officialdom in this country. Just remember, elsewhere in civil servant-land, the ever-chaotic Home Office has been exposed for employing illegal aliens to clean the offices of those very civil servants whose job it is to monitor illegal aliens.

The anguish in this case is compounded by the possibility that the rule which saw Teresa lose her job could be about to change.

Surely it is time to drop this law - or, at the very least, interpret it with some common sense and humanity.

Updated: 10:23 Wednesday, May 24, 2006