What is it about them? They make huge profits and still take every opportunity to fleece us.

The latest is that they have been watching peoples movements online to test a new marketing tool that will tailor advertising to the browser. Unfortunately they decided not to have the courtesy to ask or inform the public first, insisting the findings were anonymous. They insist they obtained legal advice and have not broken the law. That point is debatable but they have broken trust and breached the confidentiality and privacy of their customers. All this for profit?

They also insist on a minimum payment of 40p in a call box, and don’t give change, so if you haven’t any less than a pound in an emergency, they keep it all.

I’ve dried washing on radiators, clothes horses in front of gas and log fires, strung up on a line in the kitchen or bathroom, in driers at the launderette, and in one I owned when I had a larger kitchen.

Hanging them out on a washing line in town makes them smell of petrol or diesel; they are more likely to be cleaner and fresher if dried and freshened indoors.

The best way to dry clothes is hanging them on a washing line to blow in the wind, provided you live in the country or the sea where the scents of flowers, herbs and grass, or the salty sea can waft through them, making them smell sweeter than any fabric conditioner.