SIR - There has been a lot of discussion recently about the shortages in labour that this country is likely to experience. Economists and experts in demography claim that we are likely to have too many people of pensionable age and not enough people in vital areas of industry.

We are told that we will be needing the sort of mass immigration that we had in the 1960s for the textile industry.

Why would it not be possible to train people from this country? People above the age of 50 and those from the ethnic minorities are most likely to be either unemployed or in labour-intensive menial jobs.

Figures were released recently showing that, for the first time since the 1970s, the number of unemployed people was below one million.

Let us consider someone who is earning £90 per week but claiming £100 in Family Tax Credit. This person could be paying about £10 in tax and NI but is taking far more off the State. This person is deemed to be employed but is taking ten times as much as he is giving.

Should people like the above really be included in official government figures, which could be open to misinterpretation?

M. Javaid, Abingdon Street, Manningham, Bradford

SIR - Like Mr Hindle (T&A, March 15), I attended the meeting of the Council Planning Committee regarding Mornington Road, since I regarded the possible felling of the trees on the site (some protected by a preservation order) as a potential disaster.

I can, however, explain Mr Hindle's "inconsistency." The plain fact is that the planning committee has absolutely no power to permit or refuse the destruction of the trees by the Bankfield Hotel.

The swathes of land bordering the route of the "relief" road have been compulsorily purchased by the Department of Transport, the Environment and the Regions, and the wholesale tree-felling through Bingley has been carried out by the department's Highways Agency.

So no planning committee attached to Bradford Council can in any way be blamed for this vandalism, which I deplore as much as anyone.

Muriel Thompson, Priestthorpe Road, Bingley.

SIR - It is unbelievable that Tony Blair thinks he will win the next election when he is responsible for so many cock-ups. He has alienated our hauliers and put the boot in with our farmers even more by backing a scheme to cull unaffected animals on unaffected farms.

If it is his plan to bring this country to its knees, he has succeeded! All this could have been avoided by prevention rather than cure!

Unlike his French colleagues who look after their own people and are more guarded about admitting a food-chain problem, Tony Blair lines up one confrontation after another.

We don't want to be in Tony's European Union! We don't want to pay over the odds for our fuel! We don't want to change our solid pound coin for the Euro monopoly money!

What is required in Britain is a new party that is prepared to look after our interests rather than the problems in the rest of the world! How can we carry on subsidising all and sundry without sinking ourselves?

We need a consolidation period to put our own house in order, after which a complete ban on subsidising other countries' civil unrest!

Trevor Williams-Berry, Bredon Avenue, Wrose.

SIR - I would like to thank a lot of people for the help they gave me when I was making my way to Sainsbury's supermarket in Greengates, and I slipped on some ice and broke my right wrist.

A very kind gentleman helped me to my feet and then helped me all the way to the store.

I am very grateful for all the assistance I got from him, the Sainsbury's staff, and also all the doctors and nurses at Bradford Royal Infirmary's trauma department.

Mrs Betty Calvert, Ailsa House, Thorpe Edge.

SIR - I work in Centenary Court, Bradford, and in the last few months I have noticed that Euro Car Parks have extended their operation to include the tarmac footpath which leads from Forster Square to the railway station and beyond.

Each car parked on the footpath pays a fee, but who does the money go to?

Does it go to the Council and so reduce our Council Tax bill, or what? They are using a pavement in effect as a car park.

Each car causes an obstruction to a pedestrian. Why hasn't this been stopped? Can I commandeer Broadway and start a car park there with impunity?

I think we should be told!

Mrs E M Gibson, Moorside Gardens, Eccleshill.

l A Council Highways spokesman said: "We are in discussion with Euro Car Parks about this problem. We would remind drivers that it is an offence to obstruct any footway and they can be fined £30."

SIR - I am writing in response to the letter from H Clough from Carwood village who writes about his fear of a Royds takeover.

We on Odsal estate are involved in these discussions with Royds and feel very much that we can discuss matters on an equal basis and look forward to the future when our houses can be improved. We also want to make sure that maintenance continues afterwards.

We have not heard of any such thing as Greater Royds but that rather together we will create a new organisation. This will not be a private company but rather a not-for-profit organisation will be created which will have a majority of tenants and residents as directors on the new board.

We hope that tenants on Holme Wood will also join us in this new venture. We on Odsal will also not want to lose our identity and intend to create a structure that will allow us to manage our own affairs in the best interests of the local residents. Come and help us to do this from the start.

Teresa McDonald (member of Odsal Residents Association management committee), Odsal Community Centre, Crawford Avenue, Odsal.

SIR - Has any scientific explanation been given for the closure of canal towpaths by British Waterways? The section closed between Thackley and Bingley does not have any fields bordering it which contain livestock. The only reason given for its quarantine seems to be that it is within 10km of Queensbury , as are most of Bradford and Halifax.

As Mike Priestley reported, other sections are closed, but I cannot understand why the towpath is treated differently from tarmac roads.

It is well fenced all the way, so that no livestock can get on to it. There is usually a big gap between the footpath and any adjoining field, which is often at a different level, so that one comes no closer to any animals than one would walking or driving past on a main road.

J A Illingworth, Tunwell Lane, Bradford 2

SIR - At long last we have Council leaders who seem to actually care about our children's education. How heartening it was to read of the plan to hand schools an extra £5 million for April.

After years of under-funding by a Labour-controlled council it now seems that we finally have political leaders with a sense of real priorities.

Stuart Hanson, Greenland Villas, Queensbury.