SIR - To cut down crime, simply make sure that it doesn't pay! All crimes resulting in material gain should be immediately punishable by a fine sufficient to fully recompense both the victim and the community ie all police, court, insurance etc should be included.

Thus a fraud netting say £200 might be punished by a fine of well over £1,000! If offenders (or the guardians of offenders) claim they cannot afford to pay the fine, their assets should be assessed and all non-essential items they possess (eg car, TV, hi-fi etc.) should be taken as part-payment.

In exceptional cases it might even be appropriate to suspend all cash benefits the offender is entitled to and replace them with vouchers for essential requirements only.

All this may seem harsh but there is a precedent set with respect to environmental pollution - the 'polluter pays principle'. Some of the funds raised by the 'criminal pays principle' should be ring-fenced to support both victims of crime and the offenders themselves in cases where they show commitment to reform.

Custodial sentences should be, with very few exceptions, limited to crimes against the person.

Adoption of such a policy will free up prison space allowing longer sentences to be served by those who represent a real threat to the public.

Bob Jowett, Idle Road, Bradford. SIR - Re your report of March 4 about burned-out cars in Frizinghall, accompanied by a picture of the local MP and Shipley Labour Party constituency secretary Vanda Greenwood.

The facts are that: the police gave notice of the vehicles to the Council on Monday, March 4. This was the first report received by the Council.

The Council inspected and removed the vehicles the same day - the day the story was published in the T&A.

Neither the MP nor his secretary informed the Council of the vehicles until Tuesday, March 5 - after they had been in the paper.

The letter from the Labour constituency secretary, published on March 13, thanked the T&A story for getting the vehicles removed. Sorry, they had been removed some nine days earlier.

Spin is all well and good - except when you're caught out.

Councillor John Carroll, Shipley West Ward, Bradford Road, Shipley. SIR - I must correct Marie Dennison (Letters, March 20) whose memories of Lyndhurst Street seem a little hazy, at least where the family Boase is concerned.

I didn't say that crisps were made in a cellar at the top of Lyndhurst Street but in the cellar under the Co-op grocery shop, and furthermore she says we did not get there until after the grocery shop closed down!

Piffle! We came to Leeds Road in the summer of 1944 and it is true that the only shop I can remember on that block between Lyndhurst and Allen Street was the Co-op.

On the townside of Allen Street was Meggisons paint shop (he later became Lord Mayor).

At the top of the street was a derelict pub, a house, then number 554, then the Co-op, then the butchers (closed) and the corner shop (also closed).

The townside entrance/exit of the now petrol station was definitely where our front door/room was.

Sorry, Marie, but if you care to contact me, we can arrange a private debate and a cup of tea!

Phil Boase, 22 Elizabeth Street, Wyke, Bradford BD12 8PN. SIR - I am searching for the former ship's company of HMS Eskimo, of the 1966/69 commission. We have contacted 60 members but have another 190 to contact. We served in the Mediterranean for five months as we could not transit the Suez Canal when the Six Day War was taking place, and it was not safe to go through.

We went down the West Coast of Africa to Cape Town, then spent two months stopping oil etc, from getting to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), then up into the Gulf for the rest of our time in the Middle East.

We arrived back home in the UK in June after being away for over ayear. After maintenance and well-earned leave, off we went to finish our final leg of the commission, the West Indies, which only lasted for six months, then home and off to our different locations, courses, ships or discharge.

We are holding a reunion this year and would like as many of the men there. It was a happy ship's company.

If there are any of your readers out there who know their relations served in the Royal Navy, please ask them if they served on the Eskimo. I can be contacted at the address below, by phone on 01404 823143 or e-mail on lucy@lockcontrol.freeserve.co.uk

Keith Lockett, Otter Cottage, Rockbeare, Exeter EX5 2EQ. SIR - May I say that I have no real political affiliations with any party and definitely none with the BNP.

It would appear that the BNP have targeted me and 199 other contributors to your Letters page as "gofers" to put forward points via the T&A that they are unable (for whatever reason) to do themselves!

I do not wish to know! In future, BNP, please send your propaganda to the other 199 letter writers.

Trevor Williams-Berry, Bredon Avenue, Wrose. SIR - Bradford Council have excelled themselves. My mother has been waiting for a surveyor to come and assess her front door for five weeks now, to no avail. Apparently they are so short-staffed that they have no-one who can come and do this, just 20 people to answer the phone to tell you.

My family and I can assess the problem ourselves:

1. There is water pouring in by the gallon.

2. The carpet and floorboards behind the door are ruined.

3. The Council are going to need to send out a joiner (or at least a handy-man).

If I can be any more help to the Council in their hour of need, please tell them to let me know.

Mrs J K Passmore, Sydenham Place, Undercliffe. SIR - In response to D Penn's letter (March 25) regarding the yobs in our society today, I believe the problem lies with parents. I was brought up by good parents who taught me how to behave and respect people and get on in life. I will in turn pass these values onto my own children.

Many parents do not know how to control their children and teach them how to behave in society. In turn, when these children have kids of their own, they will think nothing of allowing them to misbehave, and so it is a vicious circle.

If parents are punished who cannot control their children, maybe they will make more of an effort with them, and just maybe these children may then go on to teach their own kids how to get on in life and how to respect others.

Paul Fixter, Croxall Drive, Stanley, Wakefield. SIR - Many people have said to me "You won't like Bradford". I can only say, as a newcomer to Yorkshire, Bradford is a delight. Full of the most wonderful buildings, friendly people and unusual shops.

I warmed to the Station Hotel, and had lunch in a delightful bistro, one that indeed equalled any I've found in London.

Waterstones complete with trendy coffee bar is a real find. How lacking in character is any other Waterstones compared to this!

Please Bradford, I know there are problems, but the good things outweigh the bad. Be proud of your city.

An afterthought: the voice of the West Yorkshire train announcer is to die for. Use him and you'll surely become a cultural centre.

Sue Longstaffe, Whitlam Street, Saltaire. SIR - May I, through the T&A, thank Jacqui Drake and all the youngsters who took part in their wonderful show Starstruck which was held at the Bingley Arts Centre last week.

It was brilliant, as was the atmosphere. All the children seemed to enjoy every minute of it as did the audience. We didn't want it to end.

Behind the scenes must have been hectic with all the costumes to change.

Well done, Debut Theatre School, keep up the good work.

S Harrison, Musgrove Drive, Eccleshill.