Doorstep detective

SIR – In the countryside it is not the lack of house numbers that poses a difficulty (Letters, June 6); it’s the lack of names on isolated cottages.

When I was delivering central heating oil in the Yorkshire Dales, it was obviously necessary, if nobody was at home, to confirm that a cottage without a nameplate was the right one.

The first port of call was the dustbin to check for discarded envelopes or packages. If this proved fruitless, you phoned the number on the delivery note. If it was a landline number, you would hear it ringing inside the cottage. Steve Cartridge

Egerton, Lancashire