I discovered a cracking technique for removing weeds from the grass at the weekend - inspired by the tip on gardener's world about filling in dips in the lawn.

Using a big garden fork, poke deep and gently lever up a clump of the grass surrounding the dandelion. then simply grab the root from below the turf and wheech the whole plant out from underneath (in the manner of cartoon gophers stealing carrots) and gently firm the clump back down. this works a treat with dock as well, and leaves no muddy gaps for more blinking weed seeds to establish themselves.