THE Evening Press can always raise a smile with the occasional play on words in its story captions.

On December 27 you positively XL-ed yourselves in this department. First, we were touched by a shaggy-dog story of a collie and her pups ('Come by -- ahh'), then warmed by the devotion of a cat owner to his pet Phoebe ('Hippy gets the shakes ...'), next brightened by the tale of one couple's Christmas lights display ('Here we glow ...'), and finally inspired with Robbie Fowler's hat-trick for Leeds United ('Robbie's three and easy').

Here's looking forward to another pun-packed 2002!

Dr K Davis,

Mason's Court,

Cockermouth, Cumbria.

Updated: 09:50 Monday, December 31, 2001