Better before: I have complained to Durham County Council about the job carried out on resurfacing roads in Broompark.

I have asked that Castle View be re-swept. Not one person in this street has had a good word for the work. In fact, the road was better before the work was done.

Chippings of tarmac are still being trod into houses, cars and all over the surrounding pavements.

There are places where the tar was left in pools to dry. It looks as though these pools will melt next summer and cause even more problems in the street. Lucky Elm Grove and Rowley Drive, which managed to escape the so-called improvement scheme.

C Nicholson, Broompark, Durham.

Half-baked

The 'No' vote in the North East referendum was prompted by Labour's half-baked ideas on devolution. With so few powers promised, this was not a true test of the region's desire to take power from London.

Labour further alienated many core supporters of devolution by insisting on local government re-organisation being linked to a 'Yes' vote.

Devolution is not an issue that will go away because the problems of the North East remain. Under both Labour and Conservative rule from London, the gap between North and South has widened. Voters for and against are agreed that the fight for a fair deal for our region must go on.

Liberal Democrats believe we now need a Convention of the North - a forum where people from all three northern regions can reflect on the future.

North-East MEP Fiona Hall, Liberal Democrat

Time to unite

I am writing to appeal to all those who have lost confidence in the Labour Government. It is time to put behind us the divisions over Iraq and the Regional Assembly, and look to the future instead.

Perhaps, like me, you want no one to have an income of less than half national average earnings, or the abolition of eye, dental and prescription charges?

Perhaps, like me, you want to renationalise the massively subsidised railways or to remove all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons from our soil and waters while banning the sale of arms abroad? Perhaps, like me, you want to restore the supremacy of British over EU law - or to abolish the House of Lords while greatly increasing the powers of the House of Commons? Or to restore local government control of local services?

If you share these aspirations, then I appeal to you to come home to the Labour Party, to influence the formulation of its third-term policies, the election of its next Leader, and the selection of its next generation of MPs.

David Lindsay, Lanchester

Fortune wasted

A total of £10,000,000 was squandered on Labour's Referendum for a North-East Regional Assembly - money which should have been spent on schools, hospitals and police.

With the idea binned, North-East Labour's MPs need to start earning our votes and delivering for the region.

From Labour we want less talk and more action. Just don't hold your breath.

Michael Fishwick,

City of Durham and Easington Conservatives

Transport nostalgia

As a retired London Transport bus driver and inspector for 35 years, I never forget my roots. I started as a bus driver at Consett and passed my PSV test on a Guy double-decker 1637 in 1958.

I also worked for the Venture. I have been a bus enthusiast since the age of five. I am now 67 and would love to find a photo of Northern Guy 1637. Somewhere someone has one and I would love to travel back in time to those days.

I still have great pen-pals in Consett. I hope that among your readers there is someone with a photo of a 1637 Guy ??

James R Purvis, 23 Pollard House, Northdown Street, King's Cross, London N1 9BJ (Tel: 020 7278 5165).