SIR - After many years involvement as a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator I have decided to "hand in my badge".

Recently I attended a forum (incidentally covered by a T&A reporter) which included two police representatives of the "POP" team.

When the public read a story in the T&A and a police spokesperson says "We were unaware of the problem." This is actually true! They have no idea what is going on at street level.

To report an incident is a trial of persistence in itself. I had no idea that so many police stations only worked office hours, and to get a response you need the patience of a hero and the tenacity of a bull terrier.

My interpretation of "POP" is "Pathetic Offbeat Policing" and the Partnership Against Crime falls down as soon as the police become involved.

Over and out, officer.

Gary Lorriman, North Walk, Long Lane, Harden.

SIR - Stand on any Bradford street corner any time of the day and you will see dozens of children's lives being endangered by their parents' failure to secure them in child safety seats or even with seat belts. No doubt you will also see children travelling while sitting in the lap of an adult -- something I recently spotted in the front seat of a black-and-white taxi!

Such practices are both grossly reckless and illegal. Won't the police enforce laws intended to protect all our children?

Dr Apurba Kundu, Rosse Field House, Park Drive, Bradford 9

SIR - Your readers may be aware of worries about the Government's changes to the way benefits are paid.

Since April, some people have been unable to collect their pension or benefits in cash at their local post offices. They have to have the money paid into a bank account, or to open a Post Office Card Account and then withdraw the cash. But the Government has made it too difficult for people to open these Post Office accounts.

This new system will apply to everyone within the next two years. It will put local post offices under threat because some people will stop using their counter services and shopping there.

So far, almost 40 per cent of those asked by the Government to move to the new system have not done so. It is not clear what is to become of them when their order books are withdrawn.

It should be made easier to open a Post Office Card Account and special arrangements should be in place to meet the needs of vulnerable people.

If your readers are concerned about this issue, I would ask them to please write to me at Conservative Central Office, 32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3HH.

Oliver Heald MP, Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions

SIR - The BNP vote is a wake-up call to the major political parties and especially the Labour Government. In part, this vote has emerged because of the inept handling of the asylum issue by the Government. It has been magnified by the British media.

Little surprise, then, that people who see this issue on TV and read frenzied stories in the popular press, are then susceptible to the racist message of the BNP. On more than one occasion I was confronted by members of the electorate with the view "this country's gone to the dogs".

The BNP can and will be beaten. The asylum issue can only be solved by the Government of the day. Electing a BNP councillor does not change this issue. Also, local political parties must now show people what the BNP are - a single issue, race hate party with nothing to offer.

It is laughable to say the BNP are a democratic party. Their instincts are anything but. Another democratically elected leader - Adolf Hitler - wasted little time filling the gas chambers with his opponents and attempts to "purify" the German race. We can not sit back and let the BNP make further progress.

Councillor Robert Reynolds (Con., Wyke), Westminster Crescent, Clayton

SIR - Regarding some of the letters questioning BNP gains in the recent local elections.

What did people expect? Reliable but conservative estimates put the number of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants to this country in excess of 300,000. The actual figure is probably much higher.

The Government response so far has been to return just 21 to their country of origin, and even this decision has been objected to by the lunatic political Left.

A J Clarke, Halifax Road, Bradford 6.

SIR - Re your story about the morning-after pill and condoms being handed out at schools to children as young as 11 without parents knowing. I think this is diabolical. At that age they are children and it is the parents' responsibility to make sure they don't need things like this.

It is encouraging young children to have under-age sex if they know things like this are on offer at school. What are the education and the health service thinking about, letting this happen in schools?

Julie Stephenson, Longfield Drive, Dudley Hill, Bradford

SIR - Mike Priestley's reaction to the failure of Tony Martin's latest appeal is disappointing but wholly predictable (T&A, May 10).

When I was an officer of Customs and Excise I had almost unlimited power to break open premises and search for uncustomed goods. Things did not get nasty until Class A drugs became involved and then during one search an officer, Peter Bennett, was shot and killed. His attackers were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Not so for an undercover policeman on covert observation duty in Kenneth Noye's garden where he was stabbed to death but with Noye "getting off" because he thought the intruder was going to attack him.

Tony Martin's defence was similar in that he "thought the intruder was a burglar". Fortunately for the safety of all law-enforcement staff who undertake the difficult and dangerous work of covert search, the plea "I thought he was a burglar so I shot him" has been dismissed.

Had it not been, any one-to-one confrontation which ends in the death of an investigator could not be prosecuted for lack of evidence.

Hard luck on Mr Martin but in this case the greater good has had to take precedence.

Brian Holmans, Langley Road, Bingley.

SIR - In defence of convicted killer Tony Martin, both Trevor Williams-Berry and Norman Brown (Letters, May 13 and 14) seem to have conveniently forgotten the precise and undisputed facts of the case.

Both burglars were unarmed and neither had any history of violence. At no time was Mr Martin in physical danger.

Nevertheless, Fred Barras was quite deliberately shot in the back, while trying to run away from Bleak House. The firearm used was a pump-action shotgun, a weapon banned in the UK for more than a decade.

Much evidence at Martin's trial revealed him to be a deeply flawed personality, which had prompted police to refuse him a gun licence because of his unpredictable behaviour, and his general mental instability.

In the light of the subsequent events, who could possible argue that they were wrong?

This entire affair poses a question which all Tony Martin's apologists must face up to - either you support the rule of law as laid down by statute, or you support arbitrary executions. You cannot support both.

Peter Wilson, Thornhill Grove, Calverley.

SIR - L' Institut Francais des Relations Internationales has written a 400-page report concluding that the EU will have 12 per cent of world trade by 2050.

As the figure is presently 22 per cent many readers may wonder why our politicians are attempting to sell out by taking us ever deeper into a failing organisation.

Les Arnott, Athelstan Road, Sheffield

SIR - Re a recent report in the Telegraph & Argus regarding planning for redevelopment of the former Wilsden Methodist Church at the junction of Main Street and Crack Lane. I feel sure that the majority of residents would be in favour of this.

A lot of complaints have been made by villagers about the present condition and how much of an eyesore it has become. It is difficult to imagine what alternatives there could be to the present owner's plans.

There is unfortunately the possibility of the building being listed. What then?

I am a Village Society member and was present at a recent meeting where two villagers objected to the plans.

Donald Wright, Main Street, Wilsden