ONE thing that gets my goat is able-bodied people standing inanimately abreast on escalators, though they tend to let me past as I ask politely and I thank them for doing so.

The other day, however, in M&S, a couple declined my request, the man citing the fact that I would not be able to get past others standing ahead.

I pointed out that they were in single file, but to no avail.

By that time I had reached the top and in any case had left my Taser, stun-gun and cattle-prod at home, so I wished them a happy day - as they do in banks - to which they returned the compliment, and I beat them to the next flight.

Let future recalcitrant escalator-cloggers beware, however. They might receive a shudderingly short, sharp shock from A R Appleby, of Stockton Lane.

A R Appleby, Stockton Lane, York