SMOKING CHOICE: YOUR correspondent, who was probably too afraid to name himself, spoke of choice when it came to smoking (HAS, Oct 21).

This is what I want. If I go into a pub I have the choice of buying alcohol or a soft drink.

If I go into a restaurant I have a choice of buying a healthy meal or an unhealthy meal.

If he smokes in my presence I have no choice but to breathe his smoke or leave.

He and his kind are preventing me and my children from eating out in pleasant company or going for a drink with my non-smoking friends, who are the majority of the population today.

For him the only choice is to smoke or not smoke. I know which choice I would rather have to make and if it takes government intervention to make him give me that choice then more power to their elbow I say. - Tom Cooper, Durham.

YOUR anonymous correspondent has totally missed the point of smoking bans - they are to protect others, especially bar staff, from passive smoking.

As for the smokers themselves, it's their funeral (literally). - John Hawgood, Durham.

SEA ANGLERS

AFTER years of indifference the Government has at last recognised the importance of the 100,000 men, women and children recreational sea anglers in the North-East - 2,700 of them in Darlington alone.

Doubtless it is linked to the remarkable £37m we contribute to the region's economy, much of it maintaining jobs in 86 tackle shops, on 76 charter boats and at 14 tackle manufacturers and wholesalers.

So no surprise they want to see legislation now being drafted to benefit all who use our seas for their livelihoods or for recreation, helping expand the social and economic value of our sport.

It's an opportunity to make our fishing exciting again. We have asked the Government to better manage our inshore waters so there are more and bigger fish.

Anglers will go where good fish are to be caught. Wherever fish are, local business benefits.

The National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) wants anglers to know how this has happened, and to say how they believe this opportunity to improve our fishing should be grasped.

For this purpose there is a meeting to which I would like, through your columns, to invite every sea angler, tomorrow at the Railway Club, Hudson Street, Gateshead at 7.30pm. I hope, too, that as many as possible will join the NFSA so we can continue our work. - Peter Mantle, secretary, NFSA North East Division, Burnopfield, Co. Durham.

HIV STIGMA

YOUR article HIV jab threat, (Echo, Oct 18) was right to highlight the fact that the rumours of HIV infected needles in Stockton was a hoax. These rumours have been circulating all over the country and are a sign of the shocking stigma still surrounding HIV.

The rumours are not only completely false, but are based on myths and scaremongering about how HIV is passed on. In fact the likelihood of being infected with HIV through contact with a discarded needle is extremely small, as the virus does not survive for long outside the human body.

The chances of being infected with Hepatitis C or B through a discarded needle are much greater than for HIV. Yet the hoaxers focus on HIV, stigmatising the condition and spreading alarm and misinformation.

The circulation of urban myths around HIV undermines public health information and stigmatises ordinary people living with HIV. - Deborah Jack, Chief Executive, The National AIDS Trust, London.

MMR VACCINE

I HAVE just been reading your article (Echo, Oct 19) about the MMR vaccine.

I would like you to know that my three grown up children, who are married with children of their own, all have had these injections and they are fine.

I do not think this causes autism as none of my family have it and on the matter of Crohn's Disease, no way would they get it.

I have had Crohn's Disease for 28 years and it is caused by stress and food.

Hope this helps and parents, please get your children vaccinated. - Mrs B Watson, Spennymoor.

TRAFFIC BOLLARDS

IT is difficult to see what Darlington Council is trying to achieve by laying paving stones on the roadways of the town.

At the Parkgate roundabouts and at the junction of Neasham Road and Parkgate there used to be large useful traffic areas of the roadway that are now covered with paving stones.

At the junction of Yarm Road/St John's Crescent and a number of minor junctions in Parkgate we see pointless trivial modifications to the pavements and kerbs.

Even more so we can see nine bollards planted along the middle of the pavement at the junction of Parkgate /Hargreave Terrace - could it be ram-raid protection for the shop?

Would it be possible to have some sensible explanation as to why the council is spending so much money like this? - Les Hume, Darlington.

ANIMAL RIGHTS

THE animal rights organisation Animal Aid has welcomed a decision by British Airways to enforce a blanket ban on the transport of live animals for use in experiments.

This brings BA into line with other UK airlines such as Virgin and British Midlands.

It was followed by Air China. The airline will no longer accept the carriage of primates, wild birds and other live animals for use in laboratory or for experimentation or exploitation.

Transport of animals for research involves more cruelty than most people can imagine. Many suffer extreme stress, others die of neglect and exposure to extremes of temperature while waiting to be loaded on board.

Monkeys from China to the UK are confined in wooden crates for up to 58 hours and completely dependent on human intervention for food, water and temperature control.

Those who survive the nightmare journey face the comparable horror of laboratory life and experimentation.

UK Government officials and research scientists expressed their dismay at the BA ban, going so far as to accuse the airline of setting back medical research, a bully boy accusation now levelled at everybody who opposes any element of the vivisection industry. - Marjorie Embling, Crook.

ALUM GARDENS

WORK has just finished on replanting and design of the High Street gardens in Loftus, Cleveland.

The money to do the work (£7,000) was provided through the Kilton Area Environment Committee, a part of Redcar and Cleveland Council.

All three Loftus Ward councillors are members of that committee and duly supported the scheme.

The two original alum stones, which now flank Loftus War memorial, have now been complemented with additional stones.

As the two alum stones are the central focus of the scheme and a memorial to our industrial heritage, maybe we should call them The Alum Gardens?

The work of Loftus Town Council was important, and their input invaluable to the overall scheme, a good example of two local authorities working together. - Eric Jackson, Labour Borough Councillor, Loftus Ward.