AA patrol sent to Humber Bridge - to rescue pensioner in Port Carlisle

He contacted the AA for help.

After his wife told the rescue service that the 85-year-old was waiting in his broken down Vauxhall Meriva car opposite the Hope and Anchor pub at Port Carlisle, west of Carlisle, Michael and his brother Peter settled down to wait.

They eventually decided to leave the car and take a lift home, where at 12.30am last Saturday morning, four hours after their call, the AA patrol man called, explaining that he was beside the Hope and Anchor Pub but could not find the car.

Then he dropped the bombshell: he had been sent to the Hope and Anchor Pub near to the Humber Bridge, 183 miles away.

“When I told him that we were near Carlisle, he chuckled,” said Michael, who insisted that he had enjoyed decades of excellent service from the AA, though he was more than a little surprised at the magnitude of the geographical error. 

Carlisle to Humber Bridge

The pensioner said: “We’ve been to play bowls and finished at around 8.30pm. But when I turned the key in the car there was nothing, just a repeating whining noise.” 

He explained that the car was stricken by a recurring electrical fault, which he believed had been corrected but clearly was not. “I asked my wife to call the AA, and they were given clear instructions that we were at Port Carlisle, west of Carlisle, opposite the Hope and Anchor Pub, right opposite Port Carlisle Bowling Club.

“We were told that the AA was rather busy and there might be a wait of up to four hours. We sat there, listening to Classic FM and talking a lot but at 11.30pm I decided it was best to accept the offer of a lift.

“I have a heart condition and hadn’t had my evening tablets. It was when we were at home at about 12.30pm that the AA patrol man called and the man told me where he was – next to a Hope and Anchor Pub in a village near the Humber Bridge.

“My first thought was: if they’d been in charge on D Day, we could have finished up invading Iceland!” The car was eventually retrieved and is now in a local garage for repair.

Michael stressed that the service he has had from the AA over the years has been excellent, usually courteous, efficient, and professional. “But in this age of satellite technology and high-tech communications, it was a bit surprising.

“But they did sort it out.” He said it reminded him of a story about a message, passed repeatedly through a gathering of 15 people. The original message was: “Send reinforcements, we’re going to advance.”

By the time the message reached the final person, the message had become: “Send three and four pence, we’re going to a dance.”

A spokesman for the AA said: “Unfortunately, our patrol was sent to the wrong address due to a misunderstanding when it was reported.

"Mr Faulkner’s vehicle was recovered promptly after this initial confusion, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused by this.”