..... when you feel an irresistible urge to get something off your chest? To tell people about something that shouldn't have happened? Well tonight's the night for me to do just that. Apologies in advance if it goes on a bit. I'll try not to waffle.

First a bit of background to set the scene. I'll be talking about Mansour quite a bit. We met at a training thing a few months ago and have kept in contact. We were both down on the 4pm to 2am shift today. Next what we do when we start and finish a shift. Basically our accreditation and the car we're allocated get scanned when we go out and again when we get back. On the way out today Mansour got a blue car [not actually blue but it meant he was in the blue team]. I got an aqua car for the aqua team. Mansour lives in Taunton and is staying with someone in Rutherglen. Seeing as we'd be finishing at the same time, I said I'd give him a lift back there at the end of the shift. After our briefings, we - and our cars - were both scanned out and we went to different locations. Oh yes, should also mention that each car's fitted with a GPS tracker so the "Control" always knows where we are. And we're also issued with a radio so we can keep in contact with Control about where we're going and who we're taking [and they with us when they want to move us].

Over the next few hours all the teams [including ours] were moved about from place to place depending on the demand [usually when events were starting/finishing]. Around 1am I hear Control on the radio "All blue cars to return to depot for end of shift". About 115am "All aqua cars return to depot for end of shift". "All looking good" I thought. "Early finish".

I got back to the depot and was scanned in. No sign of Mansour yet so I made a cup of tea and waited. Still no sign at 2am but he could easily have been tied up on a job so I made another cup of tea. Still no sign at 230am so I thought I'd give him a ring to find out where he was. My phone was switched off and as soon as I switched it on a few texts and messages from Mansour came through. I rang him straightaway and to say he sounded relieved to hear my voice would be an understatement. Basically he was at Ibrox Park and had been there for nearly two hours. He'd tried to get back to the depot but he couldn't get the satnav to work. What made a bad matter worse was that the battery in his radio had died so he couldn't talk to Control about his predicament. And the only number he had on his phone remotely connected with Glasgow was mine. Which is why he'd been trying to reach me. He'd decided to stay put at Ibrox rather than keep going around in circles. The police up there were looking after him.

While he was on the phone, I went over to the bloke who scans us in ….. Jim. I told him I had Mansour [call sign Bravo 223 for this shift] on the phone and that he was stuck at Ibrox Park. "He can't be" said Jim. "All the blue cars are in". And he showed me the computer screen to prove the point. Bravo 223 was indeed showing as having returned. I gave the phone to Jim so he could talk directly to Mansour. Fairly quick discussion and fairly simple rescue plan. I just jumped in a car to go up to Ibrox so Mansour could follow me down.

Fortunately all ended well this time. But I think it's worrying. With all the technology at their disposal and hopefully with checks and balances in the system, how the hell can a car just disappear? How could he have been scanned in when he hadn't returned? Why didn't GPS pick up that he hadn't moved? Would they be so lax if we tried to nick a car? And what about their duty of care to us? What do you reckon:

a] fully investigated to identify what mistakes were made so that it can't happen again? Or

b] swept under the carpet?

Answers on a postcard please. Day off tomorrow so back on Sunday. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest - feel better now. Night night ….