Storm Ali may have caused misery in some parts of the country but at least one Tayside motorist was able to see the funny side.
The Tay Road Bridge was closed for most of the afternoon on September 12 because of high winds.
It meant many commuters trying to get home after work had to drive via Perth rather than just nipping across the bridge.
This inconvenience prompted Kirkton of Auchterhouse man Graham Ellis to come up with his own light-hearted suggestion on how to avoid closing the bridge to stop cars “blowing off and washing up on the award-winning Broughty Ferry beach”.
In a letter to the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board, he shared his frustration at missing Homes Under the Hammer on TV and a chiropodist appointment — but also revealed a cunning solution.
Mr Ellis wrote: “All that is required is to place a member of staff at each end of the bridge (I advise attaching them to bungees for health and safety reasons) and they can ensure that all traffic open all their windows so that the wind simply passes through the vehicle rather than blowing them off the bridge.
“I’m sure you’d agree it’s better to have messed up hair than a burnt tea.”
Mr Ellis receive an equally humorous response from Tay Road Bridge manager Alan Hutchison about his “unfortunate isolation” in Fife.
Mr Hutchison wrote: “I do understand your frustration regarding missing the first half of ‘Homes Under the Hammer’ and recall that the episode you refer to is number 74 from series 16, first aired on 30 January 2013, and it was indeed a televisual masterpiece.”
He continued: “As always we are open to suggestions on how best to deal with high winds and I shall give your suggestion not a bit of thought.
“One useful suggestion that I can offer you is that you invest in a slow cooker to prevent burning your tea when the bridge is unfortunately closed.
“This means that you do not have to worry about messy hair either, win-win!”
