AA man’s 45 years and 80,000 rescues

Jim Haggart, 60, from Glasgow, is the AA’s longest serving patrolman in the UK, having joined its cadet scheme in his teens.

The grandfather estimates he has rescued 1,500-2,000 people a year since he began and after four decades on the job he still enjoys helping people stranded everywhere from side streets to snowy motorway hard shoulders.

He said: “If I do on average maybe eight jobs a shift I get to help eight different people with their particular problem, which is nice.

“It’s nice to be able to get a car going and see the satisfaction on people’s faces when they drive away.

“When I started out I never ever thought I’d be 45 years by now. I get more of a kick watching people’s faces when they ask me how long I’ve been with the AA. To me it’s just a number, I enjoy the job and the years just go by, but it’s the reaction on people’s faces, when I tell them 45 years.”

Mr Haggart, 60, left school at 15 and worked as an office boy and an electrician’s apprentice before spotting a newspaper advert for an AA cadet scheme.

Over the years he has driven a range of AA vehicles, including a BSA Bantam motorbike, an Austin Minor and a Morris Marina.

His current work vehicle is a Vauxhall Vivaro in which he responds to calls within a 60-mile radius of Glasgow.