It is now my conviction that all lifts on the London Transport Network should be strictly reserved for wheelchair users and prams, punishable by at least a stiff fine. That might sound mean spirited, but I’m serious. I have now lost count of the times that I’ve had been unable to get to where I have wanted to go because a lift has been out of order. Earlier today, for example, I took the DLR to Star Lane, intending to take one of my regular strolls along the River Lea up to Stratford. However, I got to the station only to find the lift wasn’t working.  Obviously if fewer people used such lifts, if they were only used by those of us who need to use them, they would break far less often.

I know I have written things like this before, but this issue is really beginning to infuriate me: I’m fed up of people who are perfectly capable of climbing stairs just being too lazy to do so. I have had enough of being prevented from getting to where I need to go by such selfishness and idleness, and now waiting something done about it. If, say, a motorway was blocked or damaged by a particularly wide, heavy lorry whose load could more suitably have been transported by rail, I’m sure motorists would be up in arms demanding that the haulage firm was punished. What is the difference? Why should it be acceptable for people to use lifts out of sheer idleness and arrogance?