Sir, - We would like to reinforce the comments made in Maureen Sayer's letter (D&S, May 17) at her disappointment with North Yorkshire County Council.

We are also employed by the county council, ultimately the Government, as senior night care assistants and, along with the rest of the workforce in our establishment, feel that we have been "sold down the river" in respect of terms of employment and pay.

Some time ago, we were informed that due to a Government directive ALL personnel employed in the caring profession MUST attain an NVQ in health and social care by 2005 to enable us to remain in the job which many of us have been doing for as long as 20 years. While no-one is opposed to progress and all knowledge gained will be beneficial to the vulnerable people in our care, appropriate courses have always been provided, indeed compulsory, to enable us to give the highest level of care.

When personnel in the corporate world gain further qualifications it is usual to be rewarded with suitable remuneration - not so in the case of what, to many carers in the true sense of the word, is proving to be an extremely stressful exercise which, although it will give them a qualification, will not result in any financial gain, indeed as pointed out we have been informed that we are undergoing a cut in wages.

This is only one of many concerns. Residential and nursing homes across the country are closing down, in fact the only other residential home in our town has just closed and the only nursing home closed down some time ago.

This must be a massive worry for the elderly of the area. Where will they go when they are no longer able to manage to look after themselves in their own home? If they do need residential care they may end up in a home miles away from their relatives, thus making it difficult, if not impossible, to receive regular visits at a time of life which should be worry-free. It also poses a real threat to the workforce employed in the caring industry. We are all striving very hard to achieve the NVQ (study all being carried out in our own free time) for what purpose? Only to be told that the home is closing down and we no longer have a job.

The Government has pledged to "rescue" the NHS yet constantly imposes cuts on local authorities, thereby placing more pressure on the already over-stretched hospital wards for the elderly. Where else will they go if there are no residential/nursing homes?

Wake up Mr . Blair, before elderly folk all over the country won't have a bed to wake up in!

DI ATTRILL, GWEN LOFTHOUSE

& JULIA MCGREGOR

4 West Row,

Preston-Under-Scar.

Vista of the vile

Sir, - Last Sunday afternoon I was returning to Thirsk from a country walk along the footpath which runs into Cemetery Lane from the north west. While still away from the town, I came upon a wondrous sight. Where for almost 600 years the tower of the parish church stood in monotonous isolation, now the vista was enriched by a fragile latticework structure of elegant proportions in stunning counterpoint. Eat your heart out Perpendicular Gothic! And what blissful anticipation in the realisation that very soon the same harmony of view will be obtainable from every point of the compass.

Surely the thoughtful provision of such aesthetic perfection should not go un-rewarded. Why not combine the realisation of the Long Street enhancement (report May 3) with the creation of suitable and lasting monuments to those responsible for the conception, promotion, approval and realisation of the new National Grid line?

Am I alone in thinking that the future generations, spared the impediment of knowing the Vale of Mowbray unadorned, ought to be given opportunity of paying due homage to Michael Heseltine (who gave the scheme the nod), Margaret Beckett (signatory of the final approval) and those other heroes of the democratic process engaged in the venture.

Perhaps when the line is finished, Mrs Beckett will bring her caravan up to Thirsk and join us in lifting our eyes to the Hambleton Hills through the delicate filigree of cables and pylons and marvelling at this paragon of twenty-first century technology.

As the late T Dan Smith might have observed, it's all progress.

MICHAEL ARMSTRONG

2 The Crescent,

Thirsk.

Euro motives

Sir, - To the two excellent letters on single currency (D&S, May 17) which exposed the myth of the "advantages" (not specified) of our joining this dubious venture, may I add the words of the president of the European Central Bank: "The single currency is, and always was, merely a device to ensure political integration". This of course is what the pro-single currency advocates, and notably Kenneth Clarke in his recent article in The Times, are desperate to avoid any mention of, and which would affect the whole future of this nation.

C CHRISTIE

8 Swanland Road,

Helmsley.

Sir, -In a short response to the third of a meter long column (D&S, May 17) of europhobic tirade by Messrs Elliott and Horn, attempting to deceive the gullible, I would refer them to the Prime Minister's statement (BBC Newsnight, May 16) regarding the single currency.

I would add that a semi-detached Britain in a united Europe, as Messrs Elliott and Horn would have us be, is a bankrupt Tory policy, discredited at the last General Election, and so noted by the electorate, who alone will decide at the euro referendum.

Olly Andrla

Press Officer

Richmond Labour Party