SIR - Perhaps better training for "lollipop" patrols would reduce the incidence of "road rage" towards them? Some of them seem to have very little idea of the ways of the road or traffic flow.

Some will happily thrust out into the road and stop the very last vehicle in a line of traffic, when common sense tells you that it would be better all round to allow the last vehicle to get clear, especially if the crossing is a busy one.

Another classic example is stopping a slow-moving goods vehicle on a steep hill when it would be better, and safer, to let it clear the crossing area instead of it having to struggle to set off again up the hill.

Yes, it is a dangerous job and someone has to do it, but a little more thought when it comes to stopping traffic would make their lives a bit easier, I'm sure.

Mike Smith, Westburn Grove, Keighley

SIR - William Oxley's letter (T&A, March 11) was spot-on.

How much longer have we all to put up with the never-ending stream of no-hope schemes headed by a band of no-hopers?

I find it nauseating that our councillors never utter a word of encouragement or support to the people they represent and who however crude it may sound, pay their bread and butter.

And to crown all we have Councillor Sunderland praising our new level of council tax.

Well she would! How much rise have she and her fellow councillors recently given themselves? Certainly more than my pension or anyone else's for that matter.

It's time for some changes in City Hall before we all go round the bend. Still there's always Bradford Vision. Now there's a thought!

Barry Foster, Gilstead Lane, Gilstead, Bingley.

SIR - I do hope it's not too late to respond to the comments by David Blunkett, right (T&A, March 12). I fully support an attempt to make our streets safer. However, what he failed to mention was that the government has plans to make begging illegal and give on-the-spot fines to ten-year-olds, both measures I am strongly opposed to.

Some of his plans don't go far enough. Drug dens should be sealed for good, not just for three months. Further, introducing a five-year minimum sentence for the illegal possession of firearms will do nothing to tackle the overcrowding in prisons.

His statement was also short on the ways the Government intends to tackle the causes of anti-social behaviour. Destitution, disaffection and exclusion that lead to a culture of violence are brought about by a combination of factors that can be attributed to society: breakdown of the family, child abuse and extreme poverty, to name a few.

People who commit crime should be punished. But the Government should be doing more to tackle these issues, as well as helping young people to get off the capricious cycle that leads to crime and anti-social behaviour. Only then will our society be better off.

Matthew Lockwood, Summerbridge Cresent, Gomersal

SIR - So the privatised Education Bradford brought in to fix a failing education service in Bradford is itself failing. We have already heard some time ago that Education Bradford wants to be paid more by the Council for its failure. We also have the usual statement from the managing director of Education Bradford that improvements are just around the corner and we shall see them soon.

"Yeah, right!" I'm tempted to say. In the meantime let me make a suggestion to the Council - perhaps it should bring in another private contractor to improve the failing Education Bradford which had been brought in to put right the education failures in Bradford.

This process could continue ad infinitum. I seem to recall reading fairy stories in my childhood which went like this, but with one exception - my fairy stories usually had a happy ending.

K J Trocki, Birchdale, Bingley

SIR - Mr Hargreaves (Letters, March 14) has every right to his blind faith in President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. However, God has given us a brain and thankfully this country has given us a decent education, so it would be tragic not to put these to good use.

Like it or not Mr Hargreaves, the two million marchers represented by far the biggest protest this country has ever seen. And just in case you have been watching "Fox News" or some other American nonsense, the BBC and others in the UK have regularly stated that around 80 per cent of the UK public are against war without a second UN Resolution.

I am not a pacifist, having supported the so called "War on Terrorism" and the removal of the Taliban, and neither am I a Western apologist or a coward.

I am grateful for what this country has given me, and I have great respect for what this country and its people have stood for. However, I am saddened by our blind loyalty to US interests, and the double standards in the Middle East.

Dr Mohammed Iqbal, Grasleigh Road, Allerton

SIR - How pleased I was to read (T&A March 8) that shoplifters and drug dealers could be kicked out of Bradford City Centre, possibly for life.

Why don't the powers-that-be include muggers? They seem to just concentrate on elderly people who cannot defend themselves and, sometimes end up in hospital and die as a result. How disgusting.

Mrs Margaret Wheelhouse, Eskdale Rise, Allerton.

SIR - Along with the health Nazis, could the politicians put as much vigour and effort into barring illegal immigration and asylum scroungers as they are doing barring smoking everywhere; making millions of ordinary people miserable!

Alan Holdsworth, Chippendale Court, Bradford Road, Menston.

More readers' views on the proposals to redevelop Bingley centre

SIR - There have been two exhibitions at which the public could give their views about Bingley. Of the 300 or so responses to the first exhibition the great majority, favoured schemes that are very similar to the existing layout around the Arts Centre.

The second exhibition was then held with seven schemes prepared by the architects department for further consideration based on the previous comments.

However, I was amazed to see an eighth scheme presented which, if I am to believe the caption, represented one person's ideas plus that of a commercial property company.

To add insult to injury the display was obviously produced by the property company itself, which had gone to town to impress with a larger and much more comprehensive presentation.

I cannot reconcile the fact that a public consultation for the citizens of Bingley can be hi-jacked by a commercial company who in my opinion have no place there until a final scheme has been worked out to the satisfaction of the local ratepayers.

Gordon Dean, Long Lane, Harden.

SIR - I was interested to read the article (March 13) relating to the controversial proposal to build a supermarket on the present Arts Centre site. Why build there?

Maybe because, back in the Seventies, Bingley got lumbered with a huge, ugly concrete block, slap bang in the middle of the valley, and that this could be seen as the forerunner of getting away with any obnoxious development you care to dream up, provided you are creating jobs for the town's potential workforce.

Let's face it, whether it be the Bradford & Bingley or Alltel who occupy the oversized multi-storey car-park-like structure, anything built next to it, however nasty, would just pale into insignificance.

John Ibbotson, Crownest Road, Bingley.

SIR - At this time of the year it's well worth driving through Bingley town centre just to see the swathes of crocuses in the grass banks alongside Main Street.

Make the most of it. It may be for the last time, as the majority of the Council's options for redeveloping the town centre include replacing this area of grass with paving.

You can still make your views known, either by contacting your local councillor, or directly to the decision-making body, Shipley Area Committee, which will meet to discuss this issue on Tuesday, April 8 (7pm) at Eldwick Primary School, Warren Lane, Gilstead.

Any elector from Bradford Metropolitan District can ask questions at this meeting, but these must be sent in writing to the Legal and Democratic Services Director, Room 112, City Hall, Bradford, BD1 1HY, by mid-day on Friday, April 4, at the latest. (Contact: Jill Bell 01274 434580).

Joan Donkin, River Walk, Millgate, Bingley.

SIR - There are already too few schools/dentists/doctors to go round in Bingley and Gilstead! Children who live within five minutes walk of some schools are having to look a lot further a field because there are no places.

Whoever decided there is a shortage of houses couldn't be more wrong if they tried.

What next - a new supermarket in the middle of Bingley to completely undermine the useful effects of the new road?

Matt Halladay, Ferncliffe Road, Bingley