SIR - Correspondence about taxis has highlighted this anachronism, surely ripe for resolution. In almost any other country, "taxis" are obvious, consistent and regulated but, in Britain, try to explain to a foreigner the historical reason for the difference between taxis and private hire cars!

Let's have just one standard, with common regulation of livery, driver and vehicle testing, fares, behaviour, penalties, etc. It works everywhere else in the world. Why not Bradford?

Drivers can choose to wait at ranks and/or pick up "in flight" - a decision based on their business acumen and estimation of demand.

Accepting that current Hackney Plate holders have paid huge amounts for plates, in a new licensing system the controlling authority could raise fees from all drivers to create a fund from which the current holders could be compensated - a self-financing regulatory regime, driven by the commercial demand for the service..

Who wins ? The customers. With common services available on demand, operated by vetted, qualified drivers, using safe and identifiable vehicles, we would have a hire service working to international standards rather than this illogical overhang from yesteryear.

Graham Hoyle, Kirkbourne Grove, Baildon

SIR - I woke this morning with a very sore chest and eyes after spending a wonderful evening at Pennington's in Bradford at a charity event to raise money for cancer, run annually by Bosom Friends. All taking part and most of the people there had had cancer or had lives affected by it.

I myself lost my husband three months ago. He died from his habit of smoking. My friend who was with me lost her sister with breast cancer.

I own a beauty salon and purchased a ticket from one of my clients who was taking part in the fashion show.

As the table next to the one my friend and I sat at were some women who chain-smoked all the way through this excellent show. After a time I told them, very calmly, that they were spoiling the show for us with their smoking. The selfish reply was "So what? Move!"

As there were no more seats we stayed until we could stand it no more.

Why at an event such as this is there not a no smoking policy? I am sure no-one there would mind. I did not see many more smokers that night.

Next year I will buy my ticket but unless there is a smoking ban I will not be attending.

Well done to everyone who put on the show. It was excellent.

Linda Marriot, Wharncliffe Road, Shipley.

SIR - Bradford University's proposed merger with Bradford College ought to be welcomed by everybody in the hope that a demerger could be possible by another generation.

Certainly it seems better than joining our city's uni with its rival in Leeds, showing submission to our big urban brother Leeds.

A few apparent problems need to be overriden. Firstly Bradford's poor image and scruffy reality which isn't helped by good UK transport links, making competing institutions with more attractive locations - like Lancaster - just as easy to access. This is a civic issue.

Secondly, Bradford Uni's academic reputation, although international, is slightly marred by its student reputation for not having many (if any) Oxbridge failures admitted - a status symbol for other Unis!

Entrance grades need to be higher.

On the bright side a combined college and uni will, I assume, give the uni what I have felt it lacked - a proper arts faculty, with single honours English on offer!

John Taylor, Park Hill Drive, Bradford

SIR - I am writing regarding both the volume and speed of the traffic on Highfield Road and the fact the Council is only proposing the road be resurfaced.

There have been a significant number of both reported and unreported accidents on Highfield Road. Too often the Council leaves it until somebody is killed before attempting to slow down traffic.

Are the Council/Highways Department going to put speed cameras on the road (they have been effective on Leeds Road going into Shipley)? We have a school of small children on Highfield Road.

Perhaps residents could write or ring the Council on this matter.

We as residents are paying higher council tax. Where is our voice on how it is being spent.

Mrs E Wood, Highfield Road, Idle.

SIR - I am glad to see the T&A is against taxis using the bus lanes.

These drivers want the whole of the road, and some of them are the worst drivers and the rudest people I have ever encountered in all the years I have been driving.

One sees them constantly go through red lights, ignore every sign, park on pavements which are put there for people to walk on, and worst of all they sit outside people's houses and blast their horns.

They want lessons in politeness, courtesy, and most of all the correct way to drive a car in traffic.

B J Rudd, Roger Court, Undercliffe.

SIR - A member of our forum has an elderly relative who during her working life lived on an average income. She was thrifty and did without many things in order to save for her retirement.

Unfortunately she developed senile dementia and eventually had to go into an elderly persons' home run by Bradford Council. The total weekly contribution to the Council was assessed at £339.29p per week, which included £50.50 taken from her pension.

Due to her thrift, the lady had been able to buy a small property which she had to sell due to her deteriorating health before going into a nursing home.

Health care is supposed to be free at the point of delivery but not for the prudent; they are victimised. Other residents in the home, who were not so prudent, get it free.

Income upon which taxes have been paid and modest savings should not be plundered from the elderly by the Government.

Audrey Raistrick, (secretary, Forum Focussed on Pensioner Power), Westgate, Victoria Road, Eccleshill.

SIR - The Green Party is unfairly accused of wasting public money (T&A, April 17) when all we are doing is encouraging people to contact us so that we can help people with their enquiries. We were not aware that printing our City Hall office number contravened any rules and we were initially advised that this was not the case.

Clearly we are very sorry if this has contravened usual practice but as a party we do not have access to the legal resources available to other parties.

It is worth pointing out that the Green Party receives no money from business and its customers and that by including the Green Group office number on our leaflet we have not cost the council taxpayer a penny.

We have simply printed a number at which our councillors are often available. Meanwhile, we have Tippexed out the offending number.

Councillor David Ford, Green Party, Marlborough Road, Shipley

SIR - Thank you for the feature last Thursday, "Brighter Future Down the Line," looking at the potential for rail reopenings in Yorkshire.

In the report I was quoted as saying that passengers on the modernised Aire Valley railway line had increased by ten per cent over the last six years. In fact passenger numbers have been growing by about ten per cent each year. This means passenger numbers have almost doubled in six years.

The line is a vital part of the local transport infrastructure and without it we would have gridlock on the roads. Our local railway just goes to show the benefits that railway investment can bring. We hope that these benefits can be brought to more people through investment in the existing railway and in reopened lines.

Tim Calow, chairman, Aire Valley Rail Users Group.