Doctor Who and the creepy-crawlies!

WHEN I started working for a local district council in the Seventies, I was based at an area office. There was a staff kitchen where we had our lunch break. From time to time, I noticed a man visiting the office. He often appeared dishevelled, wearing a long scarf — and the rest of his attire would not have been out of place on Doctor Who either. He was one of those individuals who made a lot of noise, with loud laughter and general bonhomie. With the onset of warmer weather, I started putting my packed lunch in the fridge. I happened to notice that there were often some other items wrapped in plastic bags and plastic boxes. I thought nothing more about this until one day, to my horror, I noticed a piece of cheese with a dead fly embedded in it. Mercifully, this horror was in a plastic box, which was double wrapped in a plastic bag. I went to the office manager and said: ‘There’s a piece of cheese in the fridge with a dead fly in it!’ The office manager looked at me over the top of his glasses and said: ‘Don’t worry, it’s just being stored there by the local environmental health officer. He’s a bit eccentric.’ He went on to explain that this man stored evidence from restaurant inspections in our office fridge. I realised that he was the Doctor Who lookalike. ‘His stuff is always well wrapped,’ said the office manager. ‘Just keep your lunch on a different shelf!’ This would, of course, be unimaginable in today’s health and safety culture.

Don Townshend, Chelmsford, essex.