SO, McDonald's has finally admitted defeat in its ill-conceived plan to turn its branch at Shaftesbury Circle in South Harrow into a drive-through.

The powerful global mega-giant has bowed to pressure from local residents and wisely decided not to appeal against Harrow Council's refusal of planning permission for the scheme.

It has taken four years, and a lot of hard work, but, despite a few setbacks along the way, people power has triumphed and a big corporation is left to lick its wounds and, hopefully, consider the lessons it has learned.

Even putting the pros and cons of McDonald's proposals aside, this victory is an important one, for it proves that individuals with little power alone can beat a powerful organisation if they unite in common cause, believe vehemently in the justice of their case, and face the daunting task ahead with grim determination.

All too often, companies and official bodies assume that they don't have to consider the views and wishes of the ordinary man and woman in the street when drawing up their plans for profit or power.

The planning process and other rules and regulations don't apply to them, they are only for the "little people", as one organisation was heard to observe in another local planning battle not too long ago.

But the rules apply to everyone, and having the resources with which to employ armies of lawyers to take on your opponents is not always a guarantee of success. People passionate in support of a cause are often more doughty fighters than those whose sole motivation is their fees.

The triumph of the pressure group Scam will hearten many others involved in, or contemplating, similar David and Goliath clashes.

And it may have longer term implications for those living in and around Shaftesbury Circle, because once people come together for a specific purpose, they often stay together for the good of their community, even when the original aim has been achieved.

It would be sad if the common spirit engendered by this issue faded away now that McDonald's has bowed to what, it is now clear, was inevitable.