Oh dear what can the matter be?

A retired teacher got stuck in a lavatory,

He was discovered last Thursday (not Saturday),

And nobody knew he was there.

The old school rhyme came true last week when a retired teacher got trapped in a bowling club toilet in Aberdeen for four days after the door jammed behind him.

David Leggat, 55, survived on tap water and fought off the cold by dipping his feet in a basin of warm water.

He was eventually freed after the club's cleaner, Cathy Scollay, heard his cries for help and raised the alarm.

She said today: "There was no reason for anyone to come looking for him."

Leggat's ordeal began when he went to use the gents at the Kittybrewster and Woodside Bowling Club last Monday.

He became trapped because the outside handle of the WC had fallen off. When he went into the building, the inside handle jammed.

Leggat feared he was in for a long wait because the club is rarely used in winter.

The retired English and history teacher told Aberdeen's Evening Express newspaper: "I had nothing with me to eat so I sipped cold tap water to keep me going.

"I did a survival course once and knew I had to keep my feet warm, so I kept running a basin of hot water and putting my feet in to send the heat through my body."

Scollay found Leggat on Thursday morning after hearing his cries.

She said: "I just heard a voice shouting, 'I have been locked in here for four days.' I just couldn't believe it."

Scollay could not free the trapped man, so she called the club secretary, who used a screwdriver to open the door.

"David looked awfully grey and shaky when he came out," Scollay said. "But he managed to walk up the road to his house."

The cleaner said it was the first time she had come across such a situation. "Nothing ever happens here, just bowling," she said.

Leggat told the Evening Express: "At least there was a toilet to use. The only thing I regret is not getting trapped behind the bar."