SPECTATOR'S colleague was kept awake for a good deal of Tuesday night by repair men digging up the road to repair a gas leak in her neighbourhood.

But what a comfort it was, lying in a warm bed, knowing that someone was beavering away in the dark, fighting rain and a howling gale, to make her safe.

Contrast it then with an organisation that dubs itself the fourth emergency service. When I broke down on the M8 motorway in Glasgow a fortnight ago, the AA refused to attend, saying cover had expired, despite me being covered until May next year.

Following a curt letter and several telephone calls to 'member relations' the AA admitted cover was valid and grudgingly offered to return the £105 fee for getting privately towed off the motorway. It will pay nothing towards the £40 repair to the car, saying it could not have been repaired at the roadside, although they will never know as they failed to attend at the roadside.

So, well done the gas men. I salute you. To the AA, who used to salute their members, I send a different and rather more aggressive kind of salute for leaving me stranded.

Real drama

I HAVE just cancelled my annual dental check up.

A consequence of watching a particularly gruesome tooth extraction during Four Knights in Knaresbrough at the Civic theatre in Darlington this week that made the infamous scene from Marathon Man seem like a check-up.

It was something I could only watch from behind my hands - a childish form of defence I haven't needed to use since I was terrified by the Daleks in Dr Who.

Call me squeamish if you like. It wasn't the sight of the blood dribbling out of the actor's mouth that did it, or even his hideous screams, but the crunching sound that echoed round the auditorium as his colleague attempted to remove the offending tooth with a gigantic pair of pliers.

I was mollified when a little while later our attention was drawn to a commotion in the stalls. It seemed someone had passed out and after a few moments was helped out of the theatre.

I think I'll stick to old time musicals in future.