Despite all my firewalls and filters, a rogue email winged its way to me this week, kindly introducing itself as ‘saw you at...’ Well I ask you, who could resist?

So dumbly, gullibly and yes excitedly, I opened it and – of course, it wasn’t what I’d hoped for, an email from a genuine admirer but a message from a website called Heavenly Helsinkians (or something pretty close to that).

Anyway, realising I’d been duped but not necessarily maliciously, I thought I might as well look at it more closely. Which is when one particular listing caught my eye...

A woman called Anna, 36, of Vantaa, who under likes and dislikes included the following loathing: “men who kick seawater over me while walking on the seashore.”

Mmm.

A strange pet hate to say the least, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised Anna was no different to me. You see I, too, have pet hates but none of which are obvious.

After all, we can all agree that bad breath, large feet and noses bristling with exposed hair are never really going to tick the ‘endear’ box, but truth be known, most of us harbour weird aversions.

So in that spirit – and with an international nod to Ms Anna of Vantaa – here is my top 10 list of strange but understandable abominations: 1. Civil servants – or rather, balding civil servants in their forties whose marriages hit the rocks long ago but whose investment in their homes means they refuse to separate, thus putting them, their families and everyone who knows them through interminable misery.

2. Fresh air freaks – don’t get me wrong, I like fresh air just as much as the next person, but I’ll be damned if I’m prepared to put up with people who always insist on opening their office/bus/bedroom windows in the middle of winter.

3. Men with ‘bum fluff’ moustaches (though clearly I accept that during ‘Movember’ it’s for a good cause).

4. Women who, having paid for their shopping, then take three hours to replace their credit and loyalty cards in their handbags.

5. Anyone who’s rude to an old person. In Germany, they shoot first and ask questions later if you don’t stand and give up your seat on the tram to someone who’s clearly five decades senior.

6. Toothbrush holders that aren’t rinsed out daily, thus resulting in a sticky, milky goo accumulating at the base of the beaker.

7. Men who wear beige socks with sandals.

8. Waiters who insist you sit where they want you to sit.

9. People who walk out of toilets without washing their hands (there should be some kind of dye or marker that stains your fingers whenever you do this).

And 10. People who claim they have Top 10 lists when clearly they can only stretch to five or six choices...