XL holiday misery splash

There are some occasions when everything drops into your lap.

Today's 7.15am conference discussed how we were going to angle the breaking news that tour operator group XL had fallen into administration, causing massive disruption to the holidays of tens of thousands of British tourists.

There are bound to be hundreds if not thousands of Midland and Brummie holiday-makers stranded, and so the challenge to the desk was to find a local example in time for first edition deadlines (9.15am).

Five minutes after conference, assistant editor Alf Bennett pops his head back into the office: "Gold dust!"

It appears that the son of Roger Clarke, one of our sports writers, has booked with XL for his wedding and honeymoon in Greece.

Local human example in the bag... and perhaps a way our publicity can end up helping if spotted by another tour operator seeking Good Samaritan publicity....

I'll keep you informed.