Letters to the Editor

It is quite a busy road and so queuing to the traffic lights is inevitable, but queuing is not in the vocabulary of some young idiots.

Young men seem to think that racing to the top on the wrong side of the road and wrong side of the bollards and then going through the lights is quite acceptable. Even worse, because it is a wide pavement they will use this and drive straight up to the top of the road irrespective of pedestrians.

This is happening three or four times a week.

I assume that because it happens so regularly then the cameras on the traffic lights are not switched on. Maybe they should be for a while before there is a nasty accident or, worse, someone is killed while walking on the pavement.

Maybe just a police presence for a few days might deter the mindless idiots. There again, maybe not; they seem to be untouchable these days.

K L Priestley, Belmont Gardens, Low Moor.

SIR - I am pleased to read we are starting a seat-belt campaign in Bradford. Watching the cars race through Netherlands Avenue last Friday night, we counted the people with and without seat belts as they waited to exit into Halifax Road.

The cars WITHOUT seat belts were in the majority by seven out of ten. It was unbelievable and frightening to think so many people are driving without them.

The funny thing was watching them quickly "belt up" once they saw the police car parked across the top.

Mrs J Milner, St Abba Way, Odsal, Bradford.

SIR - With regard to the roadworks on Wrose Road, there has suddenly appeared at either end of Plumpton End two "Road Closed" signs.

As I regularly walk down Plumpton End, the road is clearly not closed. The signs are there to obviously stop traffic using this road, as opposed to traffic waiting for the lights on Wrose Road that have been put in place because of the roadworks.

Surely this small street would be better used to alleviate some of the traffic congestion but in particular it could hinder the emergency services, considering the road is not actually closed at all.

Why would the highways department put up signs that are completely false because a few residents are fed up of a little extra traffic, for a short time only, when in fact many streets around Bradford have probably been fighting for years to reduce traffic in their street that is there on a permanent basis? Can anyone clarify this matter?

Nicola Murray,Willowfield Crescent, Wrose.

l A Bradford Council Highways spokesman said: "We decided to put up temporary road signs saying 'Road Closed Ahead' and 'Access Only' at both ends of Plumpton End because of concerns from local residents and councillors that it was being used as a rat-run to avoid the road works at the junction of Wrose Road and Kings Road. The road is narrow and windy and becomes dangerous when used by large volumes of traffic going at excessive speed."

SIR - Amid all the hyperbole about the supposed dire consequences of the European Constitution, may I be allowed to point out some of its potential advantages?

It will replace the complex and overlapping set of EU treaties with a single readable document spelling out clearly the powers of the EU and their limits.

It will make the adoption of all EU legislation subject to the prior scrutiny of national Parliaments and the double approval of both national governments (in the EU Council) and directly elected MEPs - a level of scrutiny that exists in no other international structure.

It will oblige EU institutions to conform to the same standards as regards fundamental rights as all our countries have signed up to.

It will streamline decision-taking to ensure that the enlarged Union of nearly 30 countries is not subject to potential gridlock.

It will reinforce the "principle of subsidiarity"; that the Union should only take action where the objective cannot be sufficiently achieved at national level.

It will enable the Union countries, when we agree, to speak out with a common voice on foreign policy and security matters.

Richard Corbett, MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, Blenheim Terrace, Leeds 2.

SIR - Re Bradford Culture. We have an Asian who plays French music from a German van to sell Italian ice cream in Thornbury. How much more multi-cultural do we need to be?

F Butterfield, Nottingham Street, Bradford

SIR - Two building projects now almost completed in Thornton were both started before proper planning permission was granted.

I wonder if the planning authorities ever send out one of their staff to actually see for themselves how completed projects look in the flesh as it were?

Plans on paper no doubt look better than actual finished projects.

These days no one, not even the planners, has consideration for neighbours who apparently have to put up with buildings and alterations which flout our laws so often and get away with it all.

I no longer feel able to vote again. And I do mean it. I am thoroughly ashamed to be British these days. We seem to allow expensive alterations and so-called "improvements" to win the day at the expense of ruin to the value of other nearby properties.

When are we British folk going to become law-abiding people who can enforce the laws of the land? I have very recently been told by a local councillor that we are not strong enough to do this.

At the drop of a hat we can go to war to help others. When are we to help each other here in England? Or are we to allow it to be ruled by those who apparently can do their own thing irrespective of anyone else but themselves?

Allen Cooper, Southlands Avenue, Thornton.

SIR - I wonder how many have, like me, lost respect for the twice-yearly Honours Lists. The recipients are mainly those who have done a job for which they have been adequately paid and which they have enjoyed - jobs which many thousands of people are doing every day.

Several times over the last 14 years I have put forward the name of a person who has given, by now, more than 50 years voluntary service to the local branch of a national organisation, but no recognition has been given.

Sports personalities do a job from which they get great personal satisfaction and often ridiculous payment. Politicians receive honours for being in positions which give them a great deal of self-gratification and again for which they may be paid £40,000 or more per year.

Who was it who said that OBE means Other B*****'s Efforts?

Peter A Rushforth, Sutton Drive, Cullingworth.

SIR - I must disagree with Margaret Eaton that a Yorkshire Assembly would be bad for Bradford. It would be the best thing that could happen - especially if it removed powers from the current useless and obstructive councillors whose greatest recent planning triumph can be seen in the wonderfully-landscaped Rawson Market.

David Simpson, Hirst Avenue, Heckmondwike.

SIR - Can I warn all cat owners of a problem that could wipe out every cat in Bradford within the next decade.

Over the last ten days we at Cat Watch Rescue have had to have 26 cats and kittens humanely destroyed due to them having FIV and FELV, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (Cats Aids) and Feline Leukaemia Virus (Cat Cancer).

These weren't just stray cats rounded up from the streets but also cats and kittens whose owners no longer wanted them for various reasons, and who gave them up for adoption.

The diseases which are fatal and for which there is no cure (only a vaccination to prevent FELV) are passed on through mating and fighting, also by using the same litter trays and food bowls. It is therefore vital that all cats are blood-tested then vaccinated and most importantly neutered.

For that reason we are offering a free blood test and free neutering to ten people whose cats have recently had kittens and who still have the litters at home. This will help determine how widespread the disease is in Bradford and help us to try to prevent more cats and kittens getting it and passing it on.

You can telephone us on Bradford 487546.

Jenny Sampson, Cat Watch Rescue, Rossmore Drive, Allerton.