Letters to the Editor

I believe the cost of this scheme is around £7 million and cannot see how this is going to be of value when it is completed. It is already evident that there are an increased number of traffic lights all the way up and down the new route, this to allow pedestrians to get into the middle of a busy four-lane highway to catch a bus, with all the attendant risk to life and limb.

I really can't understand why, if this type of system is necessary, the powers-that-be didn't just make the inside lane in each direction a "Buses Only" lane and place traffic lights along this as required to give buses priority.

Surely this would have been a quicker, cheaper option, would have reduced disruption, minimised loss to businesses, saved millions of pounds and achieved a similar result in traffic flow for buses.

Geoff Dyson, Moorside Road, Bradford 2.

SIR - Dr Hughes's comments (T&A, December 24) on the treatment of alcoholics were very interesting and certainly raised some valid issues.

However, as he states, he has worked on the wards at Lynfield Mount hospital. He should therefore be painfully aware that the staff work under immense pressure, with limited resources.

I feel that his comments undermine the work of my former colleagues and paint a rather grim picture of Lynfield Mount hospital. At the end of the day, the general public expect a minimum standard of care from all hospitals, not just Lynfield Mount.

But as is the case nationally, this minimum is not being attained because the NHS is continually being under-funded.

We all need to realise that an odd few pence on income tax is the only way to improve all services.

Anton Clark, Porters Avenue, Dagenham, Essex.

SIR - How sad it was to hear of the death of Jack (Jackie) Lee in America.

My memories of him were as an 18-year-old, playing in the famous Bradford League during the war, for Lidget Green, a club with many county players playing for them.

He was a great favourite with the spectators with his swashbuckling style, making some of the visiting professionals seem easy pickings.

I was stationed in the same camp in Malvern, training for the Royal Navy, 1945. I remember him playing some boogie woogie on the piano for many of us. He sadly slipped through Yorkshire's net as a possible batsman.

Kenneth E Higgins, Carr Bottom Grove, Little Horton, Bradford.

SIR - May I publicly thank the librarian and staff of Great Horton Library for their help and kindness to me.

I was in a distraught condition when my handbag was stolen from my car. One library lady phoned the police, the other took my friend to the dentist while I waited for the police.

The library staff really were wonderful.

I had visited the library on December 12 to change my books. When I went to my car and unlocked the doors, placing the handbag on the passenger seat, the passenger door opened, a youth's hand appeared, and my bag was stolen.

During the course of that dreadful day, I found true goodness and kindness in many ways and this outweighed this cruel and evil act.

Freda Jackson, Scholemoor Road, Lidget Green.

SIR - Regarding the Past Times feature on St George's Hall (December 26), no mention was made of the organ in the Hall which has sadly been out of action since the fire in the roof some years ago.

I made a visit to St George's and inspected the interior of the organ and found that although it appeared complete as far as the pipe work was concerned, the blower had been removed and the blower room turned into an office.

Thus Bradford is without a concert/recital organ. As rebuilding the organ appears to be out of the question due to cost, it would be nice if, as part of Bradford's Capital of Culture plans, we were able to replace it with a Bradford Computing Organ developed at Bradford University, providing classical and theatre organ voicing.

Although the organ case is listed as is the hall itself, I understand it would be possible to remove the pipe work and install the speakers within the organ case.

Councillor Michael Walls (Member of Bradford Organists Association), Moor Close Road, Queensbury.

SIR - People who own 19 cats are not a problem (T&A, December 22). The problem Britain has, and which will destroy the country, are the thugs and semi-literates who make up 96 per cent of the population of this disgusting, undisciplined, poorly-educated nation; a nation where it is not safe for a child to walk the streets alone.

The people complaining about the cats might like to ponder that they don't kill old women, break into houses, start or take part in riots, thieve, steal and torch cars, lie, cheat, wreck marriages, or start and take part in wars.

Neither do they become suicide terrorists. Nor are they paedophiles who lure and murder little children. It seems to me that the neighbours should be worrying about rather bigger things than cats, 19 of them or not.

They are living in a Third World country which will become a Fifth World Country by 2010 and most of those complaining will be out of a job with no prospect of ever having one again.

If they've got any sense, they'll get out of Britain while they still can. The problem with this country is people, not cats.

Alan Watkins, The Cobbins, Burnham on Crouch, Essex.

SIR - I disagree with Tariq Hussain's remarks (Letters, December 24). The riots in Bradford were not the first, and everyone engaged in the destruction and injuries that devastated our city deserve to be punished.

He speaks of the sentence on Shazed Ashraf. Well, if he was so good a person, what was he doing there in the first place?

As regards the 15-year-old. He could have killed someone with a brick. Perhaps now these two will not do it again.

If people break the law, they pay the price, and I only hope these youths learn from it.

B J Rudd, Roger Court, Undercliffe.