Posy poser

My wife received a gift of flowers this week through the intermediary of a UK florist operating a mail order/online service. Unfortunately, on the card accompanying the flowers, there was no mention of the giver's name, merely the message: "Belated good wishes".

I telephoned the florist to ask the name of the sender so my wife could communicate her thanks but was told that the Data Protection Act prohibited disclosure of this information.

One would have thought that in the very act of requesting a gift to be sent to someone, disclosure of the sender's name would be implicit. It is certainly unlikely the sender would want to remain anonymous, unless, of course, he or she was a secret admirer. Perhaps this was an early St Valentine's Day present.

JOHN RIDDICK

East London Street

Edinburgh