I ALMOST killed the window cleaner last week.

I work part of the week from home and on those days I sometimes don’t get out of my dressing gown until 15 minutes before my partner arrives home. Well, where’s the harm. It’s not as if I’m shopping in a onesie is it?

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I’ve also been known to fit in the odd beauty treatment in what would be my lunch hour if I was in the office.

So, having been disturbed by my increasing resemblance to a brow-less Elizabeth I, I decided to mix up some dark brown eyebrow dye, applied it and finished off writing an article while it worked its magic.

Now for the benefit of all those fortunate enough to have lustrous, coloured brows, the process of dyeing them is probably alien. It’s something ladies (and David Guest) have to do when their brows start to turn grey.

It’s an ugly treatment, but a worthwhile one because it can make all the difference between looking 65 or 45.

You basically have to apply a thick, dark tar over your brows until they resemble slugs on steroids. If you’ve ever seen those chavvy girls whose drawn-on High Definition brows meet in the middle – picture that, only bigger and scarier.

So there I was in my stained towelling bathrobe, greasy hair and pantomime dame brows, writing an article about timelessly classic fashion for the shopping pages, when I heard a noise at the window.

So I turned to face the window cleaner who was about to give me a little wave. (he’s been washing my windows for 20 years so he’s seen me in various stages of hideousness) But He was so horrified, that he recoiled and stepped back losing his footing on the ladder.

I approached the window to check he was OK - he was hanging on with one arm and one leg - but he shielded his face as if he’d encountered Medusa. The worrying thing is I don’t even think he was joking. I’ve not seen him since to explain.

The point of me telling you all this is National Work At Home Week (Jan 19-25). Few people realise that last June, new ‘right to flexible working’ laws were introduced in the UK. They declared that all employees – who have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks – are eligible to request flexible working, including the option of working from home.

In fact, recent figures show that around 14 per cent of people in employment are working from home. highlighting the idea that it’s increasingly becoming a viable and attractive alternative for businesses.

I predict, however, that a rise in uptake of this new law will I forecast see a surge in window cleaners taking early retirement. So bosses shouldn’t worry that their employees are wasting time gazing out of the ir spare room-turned-office window.

They’ll be too mucky to see anything. Result!