In the bin cupboard by my front door repose an old tool chest, a couple of incomplete socket sets and a few old tools that don't fit.

I acquired these because they were left in my old place by the man who didn't fit the kitchen he had supplied and retained about £1700 I had given him for the work.

When I gave up expecting him to do anything without attempting to extract more money from me, I wrote to him ending the arrangement, asked him for a repayment, told him where his tools were and changed the locks.

I dropped a copy into his largely abandoned shop. He at some point picked it up and dropped it again without opening it. I left a copy at the old place in case the replacement fitter was there and he tried to get in. Examination of the electoral rolls showed no recent address for him, but did associate another surname with him. I also engaged the postman with this information, and he told me the man moved about a bit, he knew where he was, and would deliver a copy to his address. (Which I did not ask to know.)

He has not, over a year later, collected his tools. In a phone conversation earlier, when he said he thought I did not want him to do the work, and I pointed out that if I had changed my mind, I would have sought to return his tools, he had seemed uninterested in reclaiming them.

If I had seen him collecting all the stuff from his shop, I would have returned the tools in person, but he flitted without notice.

Do I now own the tools? Do I own them enough to include them in a yard or boot sale?

Penny