This is the true story that ended up causing far more drama than anyone could ever have imagined. The thought of losing my tools of the trade was unthinkable……

Yet, on one ordinary working day, somewhere between a customer visit and a quick stop at a coffee shop, my tool case vanished without a trace.

At first, I assumed I had simply misplaced it. A quick phone call or a retracing of my steps would surely solve the problem, but as the hours passed, the mystery only deepened. What began as a minor inconvenience, soon escalated into a chain of events involving frantic searches, confused staff, police cordons, and a conclusion, so unexpected that nobody could have predicted it.

It didn't take long to discover we weren't the only residents here. Every evening, just as the lights went down, the cockroaches made their appearance. They weren't the occasional stray insect you'd squash with a slipper. These were an organised gang. They marched confidently across the kitchen worktops, on single file, very regimented & disappeared into the cupboards and cracks within seconds and scattered only when you switched the light on. It was as if they were paying the rent and we were the unwanted lodgers.

People often ask me,

"Martin, how on earth did you end up owning a bright pink double-decker bus?"

The truth is...

I wasn't looking for one.

I wasn't planning to buy one.

In fact, I'd only gone out for pie and mash.

What happened next changed my life.

And that's where this story begins.