IT was with a degree of sadness that I read about the Dunnock (hedge sparrow) that was found dead in the netting to stop birds nesting in West Park, Darlington (Echo, March 20).

It should be made illegal to net trees in this way.

It takes me back about 40 years in my large garden where I grew quite a bit of soft fruit and my raspberries were showing signs of ripening, so I covered them with green plastic netting to protect them from the birds which I feed further up my plot.

A week or two later my rasps were ready to pick, and I went down to the rasps with a bowl to pick them.

On lifting the netting, I found a family of six mummified green finches trapped in the netting. I may have cried in my garden that day. I felt very sad and never used netting again. I love my garden birds.

Malcolm Rolling, Carrville