I woke suddenly in the middle of the night to a repetitive high-pitched beeping coming from the hall. Further away in the living room I could hear a robotic voice intermittently issuing instructions. But it wasn’t until I looked out of the window that I realised something really strange was going on.

The world beyond my bedroom window was in complete darkness – where was the lamp-post’s familiar orange glow?

I soon realised that all these strange goings on were because of a power cut. I silenced the burglar alarm and the recorded voice coming from my Telecare system. But I knew I was powerless to help the powerless lamp-post.

Moments after I climbed back into bed the electricity came back on and the lamp burst back into life and light.

Surprisingly, I didn’t launch into a torrent of ticced abuse. One single tic floated out into the night as I rolled over and went back to sleep – “Goodnight, lazy lamp-post.”