SIR We had a power cut this morning. It lasted about a minute. Then it took me ten times as long to reset all the clocks in the house!

But it set me thinking how, in this country, we take our remarkably reliable utilities for granted.

So here's a big thank you' to all the unsung heroes of gas, electric, water, phone, TV, radio, satellite and all those other invisible services, which we are confident will always work whenever we turn the tap, press the button or click the switch.

Many thousands of dedicated engineers work behind the scenes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, keeping everything running smoothly to make sure we never notice them.

There's no medals, no praise, no honours, just a few million customers who never realise they exist.

Well, I hope I've helped to changed that and, in return, can you please make my next power cut just a bit longer then it makes all that clock-resetting time seem more worthwhile!

Graham Hoyle, Kirkbourne Grove, Baildon