The number of carbon monoxide poisoning incidents has increased over last year. The reason isn't entirely clear, however Nearly all carbon monoxide poisoning results from open-flued appliances, such as gas fires.

Have you noticed any increase in the number of scrap metal men doing the rounds? I certainly have, not least because the scrap metal I had set aside recently on one of my jobs walked off after just ten minutes. Two hours later I had another visit from someone who was similarly interested, but this time he didn’t particularly care …