I occasionally notice an advert for 'Used Knickers' and my mind boggles. I mean it's bad enough handling other people's, even family members, when I do the washing, and that's just chucking them in the machine or fishing them out.

I tried to imagine who would want used ones when loads of shops do rather nice new ones of all colours and descriptions - I suppose I should know, there are all sorts of stories involving creative use of rancid panties, but just seeing an advert for it brought it out of the shadows of the dirty mac brigade and into the mainstream.

Do I see Marks and Spencer offering hermetically sealed bags of used underwear or lingering lingerie? I don't think so, somehow. Still if it means mine don't get knicked (is that why they call them knickers?) off the clothes-line, then some good might come from it.

Angharad.