12/02/2004

My partner also put a card in, and I weighed it at Abington Street Post Office, Blackpool, to make sure it did not cost any more than a first-class stamp, and off it went to Ferryhill, County Durham.

But my brother never received it.

The bad weather cannot have delayed it because the snow did not start until January 27.

Perhaps whoever found the card thought they had something more than just a card in the envelope. Well, hah, they found another card - no vouchers and certainly no money.

Thank you for spoiling my brother's birthday and for costing me more money in future because from now on my cards go recorded delivery. - Cliff Chambers, Blackpool.

BUREAUCRACY

BEFORE the passing of my husband we had received council tax exemption forms to complete.

Very hard on the heels of my husband dying, I received two tax demands, the first telling me I was due to pay the tax; the second demanding £800 at once.

Only after the weekend did the next post arrive informing this diktat had been amended because of the exemption forms.

I was at breaking point through this terrible, shameful situation, one which I shall never forget. It was a weekend of hell I endured through no fault of mine. - Jean S. Knox, Stanley.

THREE BEARS

HAVING bought two tickets for the pantomime to treat my five-year-old grand-daughter at Darlington Civic, I left after 45 minutes disgusted and deafened. Young children have sensitive hearing!

Parents and children know the Three Bears story well. There are no wicked fairies or frightening wolves, and so it is a favourite for all.

Your reviews suggested a show based on the traditional story, instead we were presented with a confusing mishmash in a circus setting - unfunny clowns and no animals. Children seated nearby were wriggling and bored, wanting the bears, which were not seen for the first half hour and then perceived to be 'stealing'.

Bawdy humour and slapstick are part of pantomime history and have been performed for years in good taste to the delight of young children. Why should we have to be fed blatant sexuality these days? What was wrong with sticking to the story? - Anne Sutton, Darlington

DARLINGTON MARKET

I HAVE traded on both market days at Darlington for 13 years. I am over 60 and wish to remain working for a few more years, but I find it very difficult to erect my own stall, which I now have to following changes in the way the market is run.

There is now no one to erect stalls, so I have to cart my own stall from under the Covered Market. I could employ a man to deliver and erect a stall for me at a cost of £7 per market. This charge is on top of my rent for the space on the market square of £15.

We were told that doing away with the council-erected stalls would reduce our rents. For me, this is not the case. - M Bennington, Heighington.

POLICE

I READ with interest the articles outlining the debate about the spending of Cleveland Police. Does this debate extend to the Durham force?

If there is a choice to be made between having more police officers on the beat or paying for a new police helicopter, I would insist that our taxes be used to pay for more police officers on the beat.

I would also expect the following questions to be answered:

* Why does the area need a new helicopter?

* What are the annual comparative running costs between a helicopter and the current aircraft?

* Given that any aircraft costs less to operate, can carry a greater payload, has all-weather capability, why can't the aircraft be updated at a fraction of the cost.

* What exactly are the advantages of the helicopter over the aircraft?

- Simon Rodden, Chester-le-Street.

IRAQ WAR

IT APPEARS that it was wrong for the US and Britain to go to war with Iraq because they thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Yet if it had been said that Saddam Hussein was guilty of inhuman acts, such as killing innocent women and children by dropping poison gas bombs on Kurdish defenceless villages, invading Kuwait and blowing up all their oil wells, then war would have been seen as an act of humanity. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

Thirsk

I AM researching life in Thirsk between 1938-1946 and would welcome contact from any readers who have memories of life in Thirsk during those years. - Geoff R Moore, 22, St Giles Close, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3 BU.

DARLINGTON FC

THE number of fans going to games reflects the position the club is in the league, as it does throughout football.

As for the statement that but for George Reynolds the club would have gone bust years ago (HAS, Feb 5), why are the debts now four times worse when the gates are about the same as then?

I wonder if S Beaton would take a cut in pay as was suggested the players should. - D T Evans, Darlington.

COCKLE PICKERS

THE disaster which has befallen the cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay should bring home to all of us the seriousness of the problem of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.

Apparently these people were known to the local authorities and the police - why was there no action to investigate them and the ringleaders? It seems that only deaths activate a response from the police.

With the enlargement of the EU it is vital that we initiate policies now to stop this whole business from getting our of hand.

In a sense, it pains me to make these comments because we as a rich country are well able to welcome genuine asylum seekers.

However, we cannot allow our country to be swamped by hordes of economic migrants who seek to take advantage of our relatively generous benefit system. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

THE BBC

YOUR correspondents about the BBC (HAS, Feb 6) are simply nave.

It is time the BBC was given its independence. That means scrapping the TV licence and the BBC competing on the same terms as the rest of the TV stations.

The BBC has for far too long been feeding us with misrepresentation of the truth, has on many occasions shown a disrespect for the majority in this country and, as the David Kelly fiasco has shown, thought it was above the law.

BBC reporting has been proven to be biased, so the best way to stop this rubbish is to make it more accountable. - John Young, Crook.