SIR - Secretary for Transport Stephen Byers has taken a good deal of criticism recently. But well done for derailing the proposals for Odsal Stadium. A public inquiry is imperative to address all the issues.

The "stadium" is but a small percentage of the total scheme. Indeed it is a stadium added to a retail/hotel development, not vice versa!

Mr Byers might visit us and see "the wasteland" of Bradford city centre, to be further convinced of the detriment it would have on existing businesses.

True sports people in the city do not want a supermarket and hotel to stand in the place of an integral part of the city's sporting heritage. As it stands, the scheme vastly under-utilises the potential of the site as a sporting facility.

So let's applaud Mr Byers for shunting this ill-conceived scheme up the sidings where it should remain.

Odsal Stadium should be regenerated as a "true sports stadium" for all the people of Bradford.

Ray Allen, St Johns Crescent, Fairweather Green, Bradford

SIR - Perhaps now is the time to draw a line under this Odsal fiasco. Bradford Bulls already have access to an excellent stadium (Valley Parade), more centrally located and with a ground capacity similar to that of the proposed new ground.

It seems madness to me for the Council to now go ahead and spend millions of our money on a public inquiry which at the end of the day will very likely result in rejection of the development anyway!

A more worthwhile cause would be Horsfall Stadium. A top non-league football club, Bradford Park Avenue, could do much to promote this city as could a top athletics club, once athletics becomes trendy again.

Alan Flood, Sydenham Place, Bradford 3

SIR - I read with amazement your Comment (February 21) re Odsal Stadium. Why blame Stephen Byers and not the real culprits, the objectors, ie Morrisons?

The minister is only doing his job. If he had overridden the objections you would have branded him a dictator!

However, the way things are going at Valley Parade I suggest Bradford Bulls take over there. At least they are ambitious!

John Killick, Tower Road, Shipley.

SIR - Al-Qaeda is not just a terrorist organisation. It is a religious cult. They have learned their craft from fundamentalist American religion: they are masters of deceit and controlling members.

I used to belong to a California-based group which published a glossy free magazine. However, their "prophet founder" sexually abused his own daughter and frequented brothels ostensibly to help poor people. However, most monies went to lavish ministerial expense accounts.

The membership, ignorant of what was going on, paid a tithe. This funded the life of jet-set millionaires for the leadership.

Their minister lorded it over the flock. Many of them were crassly insensitive types. "Double talk" and "double think" were the minister's bye-word.

Don't knock some Muslim youths! Just look at cultic Christianity.

Albert Kowolewski, Harrogate Road, Eccleshill.

SIR - Re the article "Flat's just crazy" (T&A, February 5).

All our trainee drivers undergo a demanding and intensive 12-month training programme, part of which is the simulation of the different conditions they will encounter as newly-qualified drivers.

This training includes the inevitable impact of leaf fall and demonstrates our commitment to ensuring trainees have the maximum experience of driving conditions prior to becoming qualified drivers.

The claim of "newly-qualified train drivers skidding on leaves" is misleading and overhyped. Furthermore, our services were affected by leaf fall only until mid-December, certainly not in February when this article was published.

We are working very hard to resolve the issue of driver shortage - a problem which we inherited when we acquired the business. The results of this work are now beginning to bear fruit, as we were restoring 97 per cent of services from February 25.

We are committed to providing the level of service that our customers expect and deserve.

Ray Price, managing director, Arriva Trains Northern Ltd, Station Rise, York.

SIR - Mike Priestley's item on unsocial neighbours and their effect on your property's value when seeking to move on to a better life (North of Watford, February 16) doesn't go far enough.

At times it seems that every man and his dog is acting irresponsibly but it is not only your neighbour who can be seen as the culprit.

What of the actions of Government departments and your local Council? A relief road, no flood barrier, schools dumped into the middle of a residential estate, flawed traffic schemes on new housing developments, the loss of a cherished open space or woodland, a waste tip or even an incinerator. The list is endless.

Actual or rumoured, these schemes are usually shrouded in secrecy and obfuscation and despite the eventual sham of public consultation the outcome is uncertain until the last minute.

Once the hint of anything untoward happens in a neighbourhood the exodus begins, and unlike the property seller in the article the local council has no legal obligation to compensate.

So when you put your home on the market how far should you go in disclosing detrimental actions from your neighbourhood council from hell?

R J Lacey, Wrose Road, Bradford 2.

SIR - Regarding stock transfer of council houses in Bradford.

Out of curiosity I have been going through the past few months' Letters pages to analyse both the support and the opposition to stock transfer proposals.

It is very interesting to note that virtually all of the opposition is politically motivated while those in favour of stock transfer are, on the whole, tenants who have to live in the appalling conditions stock transfer seeks to improve.

So who should the tenants listen to? Those who are politically motivated or tenants who desperately seek improvements, many of whom are volunteer members of the stock transfer shadow boards, or who have created and are running local resident and tenant groups to create a better life for their neighbours.

Mike Stocks, The Coppice, Delph Hill, Wyke.

SIR - I wonder how many of the people pictured under the heading "Anger as road safety measures are dropped" actually drive their children to the school in question and park (double park) as near as possible to the school gates?

I have often driven up and down this road when children are being off-loaded or picked up, and traffic-calming has not been necessary.

The inconsiderate parking of those who complain about road safety not only calms the traffic but practically brings it to a standstill.

P E Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley.