TEENAGER'S PLIGHT: As a resident of Darlington I find it has nothing to offer me as a normal teenager.

I am being made redundant from my job and there doesn't seem to be any organisation that I can contact in order to get help to further my career.

It seems that if you are a pregnant teenager you get money handed to you on a plate and seem to get rewarded for having a child so young.

It seems as though you are only rewarded now in life if you are a teenage mother.

Sometimes I feel the only way to go forward in life is to have a baby very young, get a free council house and claim all the benefits I can.

Everybody else around me is doing the same and it seems to be some sort of fashion to have a baby as young as possible.

It seems that Darlington encourages this. - Name and address supplied.

POST OFFICES

IN 2001 the North-East had 736 branch post offices. Today we have 583 - a loss of 153.

City of Durham Conservatives, having recently supported Durham residents in their campaign to save two local post offices, are very aware and concerned about this continuing problem.

Post offices are vital local services particularly for the elderly and people who rely on public transport.

For rural villages and often deprived communities, post offices strengthen community life, offering essential services, employment and a place for local people to meet and chat.

Loss of local services, growing anti-social behaviour and the effects of binge drinking and drugs have done much to undermine community life.

Thriving communities are built on foundations of good local services and facilities - it's vital that we use them or lose them and it's time that we objected to Labour indifference before we lose even more. - Michael Fishwick, City of Durham Conservatives.

SNOOKER

WHILE watching the recent professional snooker tournament on TV, I was again disappointed to hear the commentator give an unsure reason for a red ball (object ball) kicking when struck by the white ball, and veering off course. He stated that the reason was either due to chalk or static electricity on the balls.

Allow me first to dispel the idea of static electricity. Under normal conditions, when a white ball impacts an object ball, the impulse produced is in the direction of centre of white to centre of the object ball, and the object ball will travel in that direction. If static electricity is present, the force produced would act from centre to centre of the balls (the same direction as the normal impulse created) and would either accelerate or decelerate the object ball, dependant on whether they are both similarly charged (both positive or both negative). There would be no change in direction of the object ball.

If chalk is present at the point of contact, three items are in contact at the same time, this would have a squeeze effect, and the object ball will be undercut (say), and would not move on a line drawn from centre to centre of the balls. When a kick occurs players will note that a ball is never overcut, always undercut. Also, the object ball will lose some momentum as energy is expended in the crushing of the chalk.

In the near future, I will attempt to give my explanation for "reverse swing" at cricket, another principle mis-explained by commentators in the Ashes Test series. - Peter Hemming, Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Captain Willington B Snooker Team, Brandon.

MILK

MILK provides children with a nutrient-packed drink, but a new report has suggested that the school milk subsidies for primary school children in England should be abandoned.

Part of the argument for this appears to be based on data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), which shows that most children aged four to ten years have sufficient amounts of calcium in their diets.

However, a different picture is revealed if you look at the NDNS data by age group and the amount of milk consumed. Children aged four to 11 who drank less than 50ml of milk daily were found to be deficient in some essential nutrients. Half failed to meet the recommended daily intake of calcium and riboflavin and more than 60 per cent of these children failed to meet the requirements for iodine.

Milk is an important source of calcium, riboflavin and iodine in the diet. These nutrients are not found in significant amounts in fruit. Giving children a piece of fruit a day will increase the intake of vitamin C but will not increase intake of calcium or riboflavin. Children who avoid or only consume small amounts of milk are much more likely not to meet the recommended daily intakes for calcium, riboflavin and iodine.

Milk is particularly useful for children with otherwise poor quality diets who are nutritionally vulnerable, so a glass of milk at break-time is a good way of providing children with a wide variety of essential nutrients. - Dr Judith Bryans, Director, The Dairy Council.

CIVIL PARTNERSHIP

THE Echo reports that the Bishop of Durham is to consult as to what should be done over the issue of the Reverend Chris Wardale entering into a civil partnership (Echo, Dec 22).

I trust that wiser counsels will prevail and no action will be taken.

I fail to see how anything good can result if, someone who by all accounts is a much loved and effective priest, is disciplined.

What will happen is that the Church of England will continue to be seen as institutionally homophobic. - Peter W Elliott, Eaglescliffe.

HUNTING

WHAT a crusty old reactionary Hugh Pender is becoming (HAS Jan 4). Before long he will be advocating criminalising walking a dog or riding a horse.

There is nothing wrong, or indeed illegal, with hounds, horses and riders following a drag trail for sport. Opponents of blood sports have suggested this for many years.

If the "upper crust" want to socialise on horseback why stop them, providing they do not chase and attack other animals with hunting dogs.

I am afraid Hugh Pender has shifted from a principled position of opposing blood sports to spitefully having a swipe at people he clearly does not like.

Live and let live is a very good motto - within the existing laws, of course. - Stuart Hill, Darlington.

FEETHAMS GROUND

AFTER reading Mr Tony Taylor's comments recently regarding the use of the Feethams ground for disabled sports, I find it difficult to understand why the ground has been left to rot the way it has.

There are very few, if any, facilities in Darlington for disabled groups and surely they have a right to have facilities just as much as anyone.

It's good to see that someone is at least trying to bring this to the attention of the public.

Let's not see what could be a good venue go to waste. It should be refurbished and used for events ASAP. I'm sure that grants would be available to fund any re-development. - David Dickson, Darlington