SIR - I urgently request that the senior councillors, building regulations inspectors, planning department managers, highways and bye-ways officials, Environment Inspectorate and the Health and Safety regulators walk down Great Horton Road's golden four miles to the city centre.

The roads and pavements are in a terrible state of repair, mainly due to contractor excavations, leaving a patchwork of different coloured tarmac which has now broken away or has sunk to dangerous levels. Concrete paving slabs are broken or raised which is more apparent from Shearbridge to the city centre, because of cars being parked illegally, straddling the double yellow lines.

The appalling litter and rubbish on this route needs to be addressed immediately, as does the rubbish in the so-called gardens of the properties on this tour. What has happened to the bye-law that gives the Council the power to insist that the owners of the properties must keep them clean, tidy and in a good state of repair?

Having spent all my life in Great Horton, I am dismayed at what has happened to this village. If the problems are not given some urgent attention, it will very rapidly become just another area of squalor and deprivation.

Dave Brundle, Hill End, Great Horton.

SIR - While the train operator Arriva bears some responsibility for the poor quality rail service throughout the district, certain other problems in the network stem from the very nature of privatisation.

Arriva is currently negotiating with the Strategic Rail Authority for an extension to its franchise which expires in February 2003. Until this matter is resolved, Arriva will not commit additional resources to the network. Short-term contracts also prevent long-term investment.

The train operators as a condition of their franchise are not permitted to exceed pre-privatisation staffing levels. We can see the absurdity of this, as both of Bradford's stations are unmanned, and this is responsible for lost revenue as a result of uncollected fares.

The train operators are not responsible for the maintenance of trade or railway stations, and organisations such as Railtrack, the Health and Safety Executive and British Transport Police all have varying responsibilities. As a result it is often very difficult to determine which organisation is responsible for which function.

It is obvious that the problems afflicting the railways require a political solution, at a national level. Rail users should communicate their dissatisfaction to Members of Parliament and Government ministers.

Alec Suchi, (acting secretary, Bradford Rail Users Group), c/o Lloyds and Robinson Opticians, Westgate, Bradford.

SIR - I write to thank you for publishing the letter from Aliyah Bashir (T&A, February 28). As a practising Christian (practising as in the sense of trying, but not always succeeding to get it right) it was heart-warming to read and nod my head in agreement.

I have always believed that when the phrase "Children of the Book" was used, it really did mean that whichever pathway we followed, the lines of our journey to face God would eventually converge, if only at his feet. Mr Bashir's letter shows that he and I are at least for this moment moving parallel. If the people of all monotheisms searched for the similarities, instead of stating and arguing the differences, then maybe Bradford would have a chance of truly becoming a multi-national, multi-cultural metropolis.

Just think, if we succeed, then our example could be used throughout the world in places like Jerusalem, Belfast and so on. It might even spread to national cultural co-operation.

So it gives me hope when I say, "Let's start the good times in Bradford, together."

Pip Wilcox, (adherent, The Salvation Army), Roundwood Glen, Greengates.

SIR - I would like to comment on the correspondence from Wendy Sykes and Michael Best (Letters, March 2). I agree that the word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible, but for Mr Best to say that early Christians were Unitarians is inconsistent, as that word is not in the Book either.

Noting his rebuttal of the Pauline contribution to Holy Writ, and his selection of other "authorities", I have to ask "Who decides what should be omitted from the Bible?" - surely not Unitarians unilaterally!

His reasoning is reminiscent of the man who, deriding the Bard, said, "Shakespeare didn't write that lot, it was another fellow with the same name!"

Walter Metcalfe, Central Avenue, Shipley.

SIR - Reading the report on January 31 about a former Knowles Court nurse, I feel I have to put a few things right about what it is like now.

We have an elderly relative in Ryecroft House at Knowles Court. She has been there for nearly a year and in that time she has been treated with the greatest respect and love and care we could wish for by the caring and friendly staff.

She is kept immaculate, her room is lovely and the lounge and dining rooms look very comfortable and welcoming. The staff are always alert to the needs of their patients.

The doctor is immediately sent for in any case of concern.

The staff do things in their own time to raise money for extras for the patients like fairs, raffles, walks etc.

Mrs Gillian Imeson, Westgate Terrace, Westgate Hill, Tong.

SIR - I heartily agree with the points raised in Neale Deacon's letter (March 4). Once again the Bradford Bulls supporters have been conned.

Although I got to watch the team at the Bradford and Bingley Stadium, I still have a heartful longing to return to Odsal.

I am one of the few supporters who remember the promises made in the late 1940s and 50s for a new stadium. Fifty years on, we're back to square one.

Here are a few suggestions that would make Odsal one of the best rugby league stadiums in the country:

1 Modernise the existing seated stand.

2 Cover the terracing opposite the seated stand.

3 Build a larger club house on existing site.

4 Erect hospitality boxes on the banking above the existing scoreboard.

5 Use the area of waste land behind the scoreboard end for unlimited car parking.

One of your recent correspondents berated Ken Morrison for not investing part of his vast fortune in Odsal. It could be called the William Morrison Stadium akin to the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield.

I'm sure my suggestions would cost a fraction of the projected costs of a new stadium. Time is running out. Drastic action is required.

Derek Mason, Raeburn Drive, Bradford 6.