Sir – On Saturday morning last, just before the Jericho Street Fair, my friend and neighbour called me with the plea, “There’s water pouring from my ceiling. Any chance you can help?”

Well, I went round and, indeed, there was water, not a gusher, but far more water than you ever want to see pouring from your ceiling. In a short time, after removing a portion of ceiling, it was evident that the problem did not lie with my friend’s water system, but with her neighbour, who, as you may have guessed, is on holiday, overseas, and incognito. We had no access to the neighbouring property and my friend, being a very formidable lady of some years, thought, let’s call the fire brigade, they handle emergencies.

In minutes they were there, four or more young men with shining yellow helmets in a big red truck with bright blue lights. They immediately set to work assessing the situation, determined there was a problem that they, most likely, could solve, providing they could access the neighbouring property.

Apparently though, they have no authority to force entry unless there is a visible fire. Meanwhile they got the OK from the police, made the forced entry, sorted the problem and limited the damage to that already done.

Hats off to the Rewley Road fire brigade! It seems there are still some civic concerns that are not too hampered by health and safety rules and PC protocol to actually do something when something so clearly needs to be done.

Emmett Schlueter, Jericho