nWE had to call the much-improved AA to my dad's car, stuck tightly in a small garage after the battery was discovered to be flat as a pancake.

As the mechanic had to park at the top of a long drive, my dad asked how long his jump leads were.

As long as you want them to be, pal, he said as he grabbed his battery pack and marched off to inject life into the vehicle.

You have to laugh, but congratulations to the service and the brilliant, efficient and considerate AA man who arrived within minutes and couldn't do enough to help. He was a credit to the organisation.