SIR - I reply to your anonymous correspondent (You Write, May 25) regarding proposed improvements to the playing fields at Consett Rugby Club.

The cost of the project overall is closer to £500 000 than £200 000, so that the amount contributed by the local authority is in fact only one tenth of the total, not a quarter as it was made to appear.

The majority of this money has been raised through National Lottery grants, a tedious process which to date has taken six years of struggling against red tape to accomplish - no mean feat for a club run by volunteers and which has the welfare of youth and the community at its heart.

The money will be used to completely re-lay the pitches and upgrade the car park to improve disabled access. Floodlighting and an all-weather area which can be used for many other sports will also be installed. It will also provide a 2.4m fence and CCTV equipment to protect this investment and combat the growing menace of vandalism which plagues the club.

The fence will exclude the general public from the playing facilities, but is necessary to protect the pitches.

There is a huge problem at present of vandals wrecking the club house, discarding needles and syringes, and smashing bottles directly on to the pitches - a malicious act designed to cause injury and harm.

There is also the problem of dog fouling - the rugby pitches are seen as a great place to walk your dog, but some irresponsible owners 'forget' to clean up, leaving behind potentially hazardous mess for unsuspecting rugby players.

Please try to see the bigger picture - first-class sporting facilities will help the community by involving the younger generations and trying to steer them away from trouble-making.

The fact that you may be inconvenienced by a longer walk around a protective fence is an unfortunate product of our time (by the way, have you noticed that there is a very large concrete wall around - Belle Vue Football ground, so this is not a 'first').

Look to the future, and celebrate the fact that somebody somewhere had the vision and the drive to try to improve things for the benefit of others, instead of moaning and whingeing about how it affects 'poor me.'

Claire O'Connor, Consett

A simple sum...?

SIR - I am sick and tired of the criticism aimed at our councillors. Where would this country of ours be without these highly-educated people who know you can't buy 61 PCs, desks and chairs etc for less than £174,175?

For my son going to university I bought a similar package that cost a whopping £1,250 inclusive and what he has done is multiplied that amount by 61 on his PC and, bingo, there you have it - £174,175! It's easy when you know how.

So please leave our scrooge councillors alone to enjoy their PCs.

Hopefully in the future they won't claim compensation for RSI. That would be running away with ratepayers' money.

Dave Allen, Ludworth

Editor's note (just for the record...): 61x£1,250=£76,250).

Park and ride

SIR - Regarding the proposed Park and Ride schemes, have the authorities considered using the now defunct and much more convenient Dryburn Hospital site which already has parking spaces for several hundred cars?

A T Hindley, New Hall

Toxic spray hazard

SIR - At a time when most people are conscious of 'green issues' I am more than surprised to see the local authority resorting to the use of chemical weedkiller to control the growth of vegetation around the perimeters of public grassed areas and the base of trees etc.

No doubt it will be argued that it is cheaper to do this once per season than to send workers around with strimmers three or four times a year. But what about the potential health hazard to children and animals from contact with these substances, and the possible damage to plants in gardens from spray drift?

No warnings are given that these areas have been contaminated and I think this leaves the authority wide open to an action by any aggrieved party. I wonder if environmental health have a view on this or were consulted before their use?

Personally, I think the weeds look better left alone rather than the unsightly scorched earth left behind in the wake of these toxins.

Name and address supplied

Children speak out

SIR - We are Danny and Ross, aged nine and ten. We are writing to tell you about the Robins Cinema. We couldn't bear Robins Cinema closing down.

If it does what are we expected to do, we will have to travel to Newcastle to see a film. That means we will not go to the pictures very often.

Don't you think Durham has enough pubs? What's in it for us since we're not 18?

We know we speak for everyone in our school and hopefully all Durham.

Danny Prested and Ross Curry, Cheveley Park Primary School, Belmont.