16 OCTOBER 1999, Page 32

LETTERS

A Virgin impounded

From Mr Michael Gadsden Sir: I should like to enter the really silly rail competition ('Heard any good excuses late- ly?', 25 September). On the 6.39 a.m. train out of Dundee, for Penzance, on Monday, 9 August, things had got crowded by New- castle. Virgin excuse no. 148 (paragraph 2b): 'This train has been delayed because the police have impounded one of our trains.'

Much hilarity among the groundlings. Had the driver not displayed an up-to-date road-tax disc? Perhaps the wheels did not have the minimum tread on the tyres. Michael Gadsden

12 Keir Street, Perth, Scotland