SIR - On Tuesday, the Yorkshire Dales National Park press officer said that footpaths could only be opened if they met certain criteria.

The guidelines issued by the DETR (Department of Employment, Transport and the Regions), in conjunction with MAFF, allow far more land to be opened in the Dales than the Park Authority is permitting.

The area to the south of a rough line drawn between Horton-in-Ribblesdale and Kettlewell (as well as the area to the west of Horton, including Ingleborough) is outside the Infected Area centred on Wensleydale.

According to Table 1 in the above guidelines, "access land and paths across land which is moorland, or other extensively-grazed open country" can be reopened, except to dogs.

Thus all the open country around Settle, Malham, Grassington and Skipton could be open, instead of the short lengths of track currently allowed.

Farmers are glad when their farms are removed from an Infected Area since they can then move their livestock by road.

If there is no risk from an open double-decker wagon of sheep driving around the countryside, why do they think that walkers moving at ground level at three miles an hour pose more risk?

John Illingworth, Tunwell Lane, Eccleshill.

SIR - If I was 30 years younger, I'd be off miles away from Bradford, which must be the dirtiest city in West Yorkshire.

Three days ago I walked up Rochester Street and on looking down some of the passages, I have never seen so much rubbish in my life.

If people cannot keep the outside of their houses clean, what chance have you got of "Keep Britain Tidy"!? What a laugh!

The West Yorkshire Police have had a shake-up, so we're told.

So could someone please tell me where they've shaken them to? People still park on the pavements on Killinghall Road, so that pedestrians have to take their lives in their hands by stepping into the road to pass them.

The old bobby would have told them to move, and they would have done!

But this is the new Bradford, the city centre crammed with pubs and more being built. If this is life in Bradford, God help us all!

L Thorp, Mortimer Road, Bradford 2.

SIR - Three reasons why it is such a good idea to have a hostel for asylum seekers in Emm Lane, Heaton:

1. It's nowhere near where any of the councillors who approved it live.

2. It's nowhere near where the proposer of the hostel lives.

3. Er, that just about sums it up.

If this seems unfair to those with a more liberal attitude than mine, let our esteemed councillors and the proposer of this scheme show us why I and others are wrong.

Let them first have a hostel near where they live. If it's successful, I'll be the first one to congratulate them on their decision.

Steve Newton, Woolcomb Court, Heaton.

SIR - Mr Boase (T&A, May 7) does not seem to like the Council, but he should not blame it for matters it can't control.

Almost 90 per cent of the businesses have private landlords setting the rent, not the Council, and the business rate is set outside the district and the Council is not involved. There is no difference in safety between the car parks in the city and elsewhere, and they are not all owned by the Council.

Bradford has a lower car ownership than most other areas, and a first-class Overground bus service, so it it's possible to shop in Bradford without looking for excuses to go elsewhere.

Mr Boase is fortunate to live in Wyke as from the autumn he will be able to speed into the city centre on the new guided bus service.

I hope that the business leader he is looking for to run the city isn't one of those who moves a factory overseas to get cheaper labour.

Councillor Keith Thomson, Heights Lane, Bradford 9.

SIR - I am researching the history of the Catholic Apostolic Church in Bradford. They had a church building in Lansdowne Place, Horton, and services ceased at some point around 1960.

Uniquely for such a church, many of its records are now in the West Yorkshire Archive Service and the Borthwick Institute, which makes it possible to fill out the picture.

I would be delighted to hear from anybody who was a member there, or who remembers worshipping there, or who can provide any further information relating to the church and its activities.

Tim Grass, 21 Laughton Road, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 4EJ (tel: 01403 273697).

SIR - Earlier this week I had an NHS orthopaedic operation in Ward 6 at BRI. In contrast to so much criticism of NHS hospitals, I want to report that I received excellent treatment.

All the staff - day and night nurses, consultants, anaesthetists and registrars, physios and auxiliaries - were kind and caring, efficient and professional. I have been lent crutches and a walking frame, although they tell me they are very short of such equipment.

I am writing because people are quick to criticise, but often slow to give praise where praise is due.

Mrs Margaret Fielden, Station Road, Baildon.

SIR - What will the Council do about the real problem of housing shortage within the Buttershaw area after the proposed demolition scheme?

It has already been acknowledged that there will be a serious shortage of housing suitable for young and single people and also four-bedroomed accommodation for larger family needs.

Why are streets of sound housing going to be demolished when money was allocated for their improvement and when the Council cannot re-house the tenants?

Regeneration has simply been a programme of social cleaning. At present, some being ousted from their homes are being re-housed in properties that are also earmarked for demolition further along the line.

How can the Council justify ignoring tenants' housing needs by giving away public assets to the Royds Company in order for the land to be sold to private developers for houses for sale?

Eileen Allen (Defend Council Housing Campaign), Reevy Road West, Buttershaw.

A vital link

SIR - With reference to your report of the police intending to withdraw from Neighbourhood Forums. Here in Queensbury the Neighbourhood Forum is a vital link between the one police officer we have and the community.

For the police to withdraw from the community further will mean they are out of touch and out of reach, especially in Queensbury now that we are policed from Toller Lane, which is about as far away as you can get within the Bradford boundary.

The sooner Queensbury Police Station is reopened for use and the police officers increased from the one we have at this time the better, especially as it currently costs the Police Authority £8,000 plus per year to maintain an empty police station.

Stuart Hanson (Conservative candidate, Queensbury Ward), Greenland Villas, Queensbury.