SIR - As a serving police officer with almost 30 years service, I cannot let the somewhat jaundiced views of P Boase go unanswered (Letters, October 28).

The vast majority of the police officers I have known over the years do try to the best of their ability to help members of the public who have called the police requesting assistance of one kind or another, bearing in mind the ever-increasing number of constraints under which we have to operate.

I do not know the full circumstances regarding the criminal damage to the vehicles owned by Mr Pennington, but it may well be that:

1. There were no witnesses when the damage was being caused and

2. There are no suspects and thus very little evidence to go on which would help to trace those responsible.

Over the past years the police service has become somewhat of an "Aunt Sally" for many of the vocally strident minority groups we have in this country, but I feel sure that we are supported by the silent majority.

However, I do wish sometimes that this silent majority would become more vocal and let us know that they are there!

Brian Pickford, Summerbridge Crescent, Eccleshill.

SIR - Only a few short weeks ago a high-ranking officer in the West Yorkshire Police Force was quoted in the T&A as stating that the city centre in Bradford was a safe place for citizens to frequent, even at the weekend evenings.

Recent reports of an alleged sex assault on a female motorist, daytime muggings, the abduction of a young mother and her two children from a car park in the Arndale Centre, and the vicious stabbing of a prostitute in the Thornton Road area would suggest that the contrary is true.

The police force, of course, has had a rough time recently. Some of the criticism is justified if some of the victims' claims over a lack of action on lethargy by some police personnel are substantiated.

However, it seems that the government's policy in underfunding the police forces throughout the country is primarily to blame, and of course the general decline of morality and responsibility allied to the lack of parental discipline towards their offspring does nothing to alleviate the problems we now face, particularly in Bradford.

Donald Firth, Harrogate Street, Undercliffe, Bradford.

SIR - My husband is a keen football fan and as a hobby he collects official supporters' club metal badges from every league, ex-league and non-league football clubs.

However, he has been trying in vain for a number of years to obtain a supporters' club badge from both Bradford City and Bradford Park Avenue.

Bradford PA issued at least nine different supporters' club badges dating back to the 1930s and Bradford City have issued at least four different versions.

Maybe one of your kind readers might be able to oblige me by letting me purchase any of the above mentioned badges or even provide any information regarding the existence of any badges to help my husband complete his collection.

It would make a nice Christmas surprise for him.

Mrs J Morris, 10 St James Road, Basildon, Essex SS16 4EP.

SIR - Re proposals to close down six old folk's homes plus libraries and sports centre. The Council targets the old folks every time. What are they trying to do? Make them all go private (with what)?

They don't care, because they want the money for schools. There will be nothing left soon. Bradford is sinking fast, as are what remains of the poor butchers and greengrocers in the top market. There will be none left by the time the John Street Market is done.

As for the libraries, there will only be the big one in town and the one at Shipley, the way things are going on.

Thank goodness there's Leeds. Bradford is nearly ruined - all Oxfam shops and £1 shops. When BHS and C&A are pulled down, how long before others are built?

Mrs D Woodruff, Rowlestone Rise, Greengates.

SIR - I am surprised that Councillor Green continues to write about the achievements listed in our Shipley West newsletter.

I wonder if he has forgotten a speech he made to Council in September when he said that councillors who thought something was wrong should challenge it at the time, rather than wait for a Council meeting.

Surely this also applies in reverse - if you have done something to improve an area or service, you don't have to wait six months before making this public.

I have rechecked Labour's election leaflets from this year and there is no reference to any of the money we refer to that will be spent, or has been spent in and around Shipley.

If Labour was not willing to claim credit at the time for decisions they allege were taken under their control, does this not undermine their claims to have done so being made now?

If Councillor Green really wants to discuss Labour's legacy, perhaps he might like to start with the budget his group set in March or the fiasco of a schools reorganisation, which between them have condemned the district to another year of cuts.

Councillor David Herdson (Shipley West Ward), Norwood Avenue, Shipley.

SIR - The old adage "Answers on a postcard please" could well apply to the new focal point in Centenary Square. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a kind of partly-shaped gasometer and an upright square-framed thingummybob!

Why are the public at large never consulted about what they would like to see in place of the present window-cleaner's nightmare, Provincial House? The developers' stubborn desire to incorporate an outside amenity for a European caf could never in a month of Sundays be thought of as being compatible with our climate, and dubious customers would no doubt make use of the seating arrangments.

A previous letter on the subject suggested a breathtaking spectacle on the lines of the Lowry Museum. That would prove costly but would be admired and used by Bradfordians and visitors well into this century and possibly the next.

Kenneth E Higgins, Carr Bottom Grove, Little Horton, Bradford 5.

SIR - How about converting Provincial House into a Playhouse Theatre as in Leeds?

It could have one large theatre and one or two smaller ones. This would be a boon to the several theatre and musical societies locally, creating a central cultural focus. Maybe the Priestley Theatre could move there.

Bernard Whittaker, Scott Lane West, Riddlesden.