RIP-OFF Britain is alive and well. Last week I asked a firm for a quote to fit a replacement central heating boiler.

The written quote of £3,287 (yes, that is correct), seemed a trifle high to me.

Looking at the quote my attention was drawn to a charge of £20 for tidying up on completion and removing any waste.

I've always been under the impression that it was part and parcel of the job for the tradesman to clean up after completion. How things have changed.

I can well imagine when I was a self-employed engineer carrying out a wheel change on an aircraft, leaving the unserviceable one on the apron and phoning the control tower saying: "If you want that wheel moving it's going to cost an extra £20."

I can assure you the reply would have been unprintable.

Needless to say the company referred to above did not get the job, not after I found out that the boiler they were fitting cost £773 including VAT.

Mr Morritt, Homestead, Bamber Bridge.