"Strangely, this job has put me off DIY"

"Don’t get me wrong, I love this job, After all, I’m fully qualified in electrics, plumbing and gas, so I’m doing what I’m good at. The thing is, I’ve had to repair so many botched DIY jobs that I tend not to take my work home with me – if you catch my drift.

"I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people who have tried to nail down a floorboard only to puncture a water pipe, or blown the entire electrics in their house while putting up a picture.

"At one home I was called to, the husband had sawed through a gas pipe under the floor, not once but three times – all in different places. I turned up in the middle of World War III while he was trying to explain to his infuriated wife that it wasn’t his fault. I really felt for him – which is why I don’t bring my work home with me!"

Paul O’Driscoll, AA Home Emergency Response Engineer