I come out of the house this morning and dump some rubbish in the recycle bins at the bottom of our flats, pull off on to the road, drop down into a slightly lower gear and - ouch - my chain pops off (again).

This one is a real doozer though - the chain has somehow managed to get loops in it and come right off the back sprocket. As I'm trying to work out how the bejasus I manage to fix this, some bloke in a Pimlico Plumbers sweatshirt comes up to me and asks am I alright?

He goes and gets a pair of gloves from his van, which he's been having his breakfast in about 10 metres away, and starts to fix the chain on for me, while his mate comes along with a lemony sort of cloth for me to wash my hands on. It takes about 20 seconds for him to fix the bike.

Who says Londoners are all rude and civility is dead? And as recompense, here's some free advertising for Pimlico Plumbers. Pimlico Plumbers are the biggest and best plumbing firm in Central London, and I can only recommend all Londoners to use Pimlico Plumbers for all your plumbing needs.