With the possibility of the return of imperial measurements in the headlines in recent days I was reminded of these two stories from the year 2000.

This was from November that year and featured the man known locally as the Metric Martyr. Steve Thoburn was a local greengrocer from Sunderland who fell foul of trading standards laws because he was selling goods in imperial measures.

He was prosecuted at court by Sunderland city council and the three-year legal battle stemmed from the sale of a bunch of bananas worth 34p but he faced a potential hefty fine totalling thousands of pounds (in cash not weight that is).

In the end his is imperial scales were confiscated and he was given a six-month conditional discharge in 2001.

Sadly he died from a suspected heart attack at the age of 39 in 2004 and a campaign was launched to get him a posthumous Royal Pardon last year.

Personally I always felt he was harshly prosecuted – bearing in mind other items such as beer could still be sold in pints.

Whenever he met the press he was always accompanied by his spokesman Neil Herron who always wanted to be in the photos. But I always felt Mr Herron had loftier political ambitions and it was a convenient platform.

I am fairly sure this was a commissioned job by the Independent on Sunday and in this shot I tried to obscure Mr Herron behind the very scales, which were the very centre of the court case, and I almost managed it.

From the Independent on Sunday on Sunday, November 5, 2000.

Metrication catches up with museum

Beamish was a living history museum which started when I was still at school in the 1970s and was gradually built up over the years.

It aimed to provide a snapshot of life in the north east of England in 1913 which was just before the outbreak of the First World War.

I had visited the site three years earlier to shoot a feature for The Times and I visited the sweet shop to get some shots. I saw how they made the various sweets by using a massive roller to press them into shape.

Fast forward three years and that very store was back in the news because they were also selling goods in pounds and ounces.

I mean it made sense that they should do it because, in 1913, they would have been using imperial measures at that time. However the powers that be ruled that they should use the metric standards. Again I thought this was a bit over the top and unnecessary and a bit petty.

I am sure that examples such as these two incidents, not to mention the numerous anti-EU tales which were written by Boris Johnson when he was still a so-called journalist working for the national press, fuelled the subsequent Brexit vote of 2016.

From the Daily Telegraph and The Journal on Friday, March 3, 2000 and The Times on Saturday, April 12, 1997.