SIR, - It was almost funny (but not quite).

On New Year's Eve I went to get something out of the car and was surprised to find that I had become the owner of (possibly) the only Volvo 440 Roadster in the country. The glass sunroof of my old bus had been converted into a ten thousand piece jigsaw and most of the said pieces were scattered over the seats.

I owned a roadster in the early sixties and often feel that I would like another. But I'm afraid that, in spite of the Ferrari-red paint job and fancy rear spoiler, an elderly Volvo with a hole in the roof is hardly a rival to an E-type when it comes to street cred (whatever that is).

Vandalism? That's a debatable point. The culprit was still in the car. In fact, part of it was poking through the hole in the roof. 'It' was a large skyrocket.

In view of the terrible events of the year just ended, it would be churlish to moan about damage to a car but there is, of course, a more serious side to all this. The rocket in question was large (41 inches long) and heavy and its actual effects in a fluke accident were a clear indication of its potential to cause injury.

The proliferation of firework parties at all times of the year can only make further accidents more likely. I hope that they are no more serious.

Happy New Year,

Trevor Lambert

'Ere we euro...

SIR, - A bright thought for two zero zero two: Imagine one of those rotating lawn sprayers, but instead of water, it sprays super heated steam.

About a hundred yards away, the steam condenses to a foggy vapour. Think of one of the little droplets of water.

Now change the scale. The droplet is all we can see with our best telescopes. The lawn sprayer is a thing like an infinitely large galaxy. At its centre matter is broken to its basic stuff and sprayed out at the speed of light or more.

Over infinite time the stuff we know condenses out just as the steam would do. To make matters worse, it is still just tiny little bit of the infinite cosmos, so don't take the EURO too seriously.

WILLIAM BOOCOCK

17 Wheatley Lane,

Ben Rhydding.

Smoking illusion

SIR, - George Harrison, the former Beatle, blamed smoking for his fatal cancer and I wonder why the Government hasn't banned cigarettes.

The only reasons I can think of are the contribution to the balance of payments and the huge tax revenue. But, I ask, are these accepted gains real or illusory?

I would like to put forward a view on economics, which, the reader may feel casts serious doubt on the perceived profitability of tobacco products.

The uses of money are threefold: store of value, means of exchange and unit of account. My view is to do with the first: store of value.

Basically, the economy is comprised of two ingredients: wealth creation and money. Wealth creation is undertaken to provide prosperity, the goal of our endeavours, and money is the usual way we value the result.

However, the valuation is made by supply and demand but fails to take account of behaviour conditioned by factors such as addiction. Also, it is important to understand that money has no intrinsic value of its own - it depends for this on what we make and how we value it.

Now, to know if we are successful in achieving prosperity, we must look at the end result of our labours. In the case of tobacco, the result is adversity, the very opposite of prosperity.

Therefore, I maintain, it cannot be wealth that is being created. It must be the very opposite, for which we have no word, but, for this purpose, can be called 'unwealth'.

Regardless of behaviour, 'unwealth' has no value. Moreover, because of the financial resources wasted in the manufacture, distribution and promotion of tobacco products, this 'unwealth' creation actually has a wholly negative effect on money - it devalues money.

Devalued money causes price inflation on the things we really need and value correctly. Money is, in fact, a store of goodness and any activity that uses it to produce its opposite is devaluing it.

Furthermore, you cannot tax 'unwealth': there is nothing there to tax. All the Government is doing is using the money spent on tobacco products as a channel to tax the real pool of wealth produced by fruitful activities elsewhere.

Economists don't appear to understand - in my view - that you cannot get good from bad: cannot fund beneficial public services from the taxation of harmful merchandise. Governments do, but I believe it is an illusion.

GEOFF NAYLOR

22 Gordon Road,

Chandler's Ford,

Eastleigh,

Hampshire.

Village helpers

SIR, - I feel I must write in reply to Denise Almond's recent letter supporting Cllr Exley's planning application and especially to her derogatory remarks regarding Burley Community Council.

Does she really think that Mr and Mrs Exley have been the only ones who have supplied cups of tea, electricity, their own expertise, etc, etc, to projects undertaken in the village by the Community Council?

I myself have helped on various projects around the village and can reliably inform Ms Almond that there are many people who help year in and year out (not just when it suits them) to ensure all the projects undertaken by the Community Council.

Has she never read in the Gazette of Tom Sumner thanking everyone involved and saying that the projects could not be completed without the help from all volunteers?

And one final point - as I see it, the community council operates to help solve problems of all kinds in the village - whether they be 'gardening, Christmas lights or the technical stuff'.

I've been reliably informed that some members on Burley Community Council actually do know a bit about 'technical stuff'!

Andrea Harper

202 West Terrace,

Burley-in-Wharfedale.

War goes on

SIR, - Although it is no longer headline news, the war in Afghanistan still goes on, and so does the vigil for peace in Burley-in-Wharfedale, every Friday at 7pm.

We continue to meet to uphold our belief that military action, however successful its short-term outcomes might appear to be, will do nothing to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks in the future.

In order to reduce that risk, the grievances that terrorists use to justify their attacks must be addressed and, at the same time, the idea that terrorism is a legitimate method for furthering a political agenda must be morally isolated.

A commitment to sharing wealth and power by building the institutions of peace at UN level remains fundamentally important to future international security.

Beryl Milner

70 Station Road,

Burley-in-Wharfedale.

Tenants' chance

SIR, - I read with some interest your articles and editorial on the proposed transfer of Bradford Council Housing Stock (January 4).

I was a little concerned at the headline The Death of Council Housing. Council Housing has been dying the Death of a Thousand Cuts for the last 20 years.

This offer, if a favourable vote is obtained, will be the rebirth of social housing. No longer will tenants have to put up with second class homes and with a third class repairs service.

For the first time in many years the money will be available to bring homes up to a decent standard and, more importantly, to keep them there.

I must declare an interest as I am currently a tenant shadow board member, though not one of the Ilkley representatives.

Alex Brown

5 Broster Avenue,

Braithwaite,

Keighley.

Question of food

SIR, - AS most children are unable to buy and cook their own meals, they depend on their parents and school to give them the kind of food they want.

With this in mind, Animal Aid recently launched a national survey, which seeks to determine how well schools provide for vegetarians. Help from your readers with getting the final batch of survey forms filled in would be greatly appreciated.

We will be publicising the fact that it isn't just adults who care about animals; veggie kids are also standing up to be counted and they have just as much right to be catered for.

Our survey form consists of a few simple questions and it can be filled in by either schoolchildren or their parents. To get your copy, call us on (01732) 354032, or write to the address below.

Alternatively, fill in the online version on our website at www.animalaid.org.uk

RONNY WORSEY

Campaigns Officer,

Animal Aid,

The Old Chapel,

Bradford Street,

Tonbridge,

Kent TN8 1AW.

Award scheme

SIR, The Sunday Telegraph is now inviting entries for its Catherine Pakenham Award for young women journalists.

Set up in 1970, the annual award is designed to encourage female journalists aged between 18 and 25 as they begin their careers. The criteria dictate that they must have had at least one piece of work published, however small the publication.

The award is in memory of Catherine Pakenham, who was a journalist on the Telegraph Magazine in 1969 when she died in a car crash, aged 23. Previous winners of the award include Tina Brown, editor of Talk Magazine, and columnist Polly Toynbee.

Entrants are asked to submit a previously unpublished non-fiction article of between 750 and 2,000 words by May 6, 2002.

The winner will receive £1,000 and the chance to write for a Telegraph publication. Three runners-up each receive £200 and prizes will be presented at a reception in London in August.

Judges in the past have included: Nicholas Coleridge, Alexandra Shulman, Auberon Waugh, Peregrine Worsthorne, Gyles Brandreth and Ian Hislop and, on a yearly basis, Dominic Lawson (editor of the Sunday Telegraph) and Rachel Billington (novelist, journalist and sister of Catherine Pakenham).

Entry forms are available from me at the address below or by e-mail at ibarrac@telegraph.co.uk

CHARLOTTE IBARRA

PR and Corporate Events Executive,

Corporate Affairs Department,

1 Canada Square,

London,

E14 5DT.