Miss B was well prepared for my visit this morning - she had the gas meter cupboard key ready to pass to me at the front door as her meter was outside and I crouched down to give her that reading easily enough.

Her electricity meter though was at the top of the stairs, and then a further c9ft/2.7m above ground level (why...?). Miss B was concerned I wouldn't be able to read the meter, but the trusty combination of camera phone and long arm came to the rescue and once I'd taken a picture I was able to recite down to her the six numbers.

I'm not sure we were quite as quick as the thirty seconds you get in an episode of Countdown, but it felt pretty close...