SIR - With regard to your report of September 15, I wish to draw your attention to the fact that I am only an employee at the service station in question. As such, my instructions emanate from headquarters.

Besides, confronted with such an unexpected and urgent situation coupled with my subaltern role and total lack of guidance from local authorities, my primary instinct dictates the priority as follows:

1. The supply to essential emergency services.

2. Those directly involved with the running of this service station and their mobility, if we were to ensure a continuous supply and avoid its closure by running out of stock.

Finally, and more importantly, the containers involved were not of the non-approved type you mention in your article. Therefore, any insinuation of nepotism is grossly out of order.

Mohammed Qadeer, Save Service Station, Leeds Road, Idle.

SIR - There are 27,000 Council tenants in the Bradford area and the Council cannot cope with the massive backlog of necessary upkeep in maintenance of the housing stock.

As a consequence the hung Council members seem to be dithering on the question of what to do about it.

Surely they've all known what has to be done about it for a considerable length of time. Except the different political factions do not wish to appear to be the ones who will drop the bombshell on the apparently largely unaware majority of Council tenants.

The blunt truth of the matter is the housing associations are charging upwards of £50 a week in rents, according to the size of each type of accommodation. For any of these organisations to take over the housing, it is glaringly obvious the rents would have to be increased in order to keep pace with the expense involved in at least breaking even, let alone making a profit.

Signs of the times perhaps, but there you have it. Clearly the Council cannot deal with the problem. It suggests they are pussy-footing around in the hopes of getting the Council tenants to vote on having their throats voluntarily cut by accepting the alternative of housing associations.

P W Price, Wycliffe Gardens, Shipley.

SIR - It was kind of Ronda Christensen to welcome me as a fellow governor of Salt Grammar (T&A Letters, September 11). In the same spirit, I congratulate Ronda on her appointment as PA to Chris Leslie.

I am new to the governing body, my previous school having closed in the reorganisation, but am delighted to have the chance to work with a school of this quality. It is a tribute to Trina Hagerty and her team that the Prime Minister was prepared to open the £3.2 million extension and I hope that Tuesday's visit can be rearranged.

The new facilities, including superb computer and video conferencing equipment, stand comparison with any in Britain. Furthermore they have been built in just three months since the governors and Yorkon were allowed to proceed with minimal Council interference; a model which could have benefited other schools.

The message from schools to politicians of all parties seems to be "Give us the freedom to get on with the job, and see what we can deliver."

David Senior, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Shipley, Otley Road, Shipley.

SIR - John Monks, the TUC leader, in a quite unbelievable display of hypocrisy, accused the fuel tax protesters of causing damage to essential services and said they did not care about the vulnerable people affected.

All this in contrast to Mr Monks and his cronies who held the nation to ransom in the winter of discontent in 1979.

During that series of industrial disputes, the trade unions did not care about anything or anybody. Rubbish piled up in the streets, bodies remained unburied, power cuts, food shortages and petrol rationing were the norm and the government of the day was brought to its knees.

Mr Monks and the TUC were responsible for all those things and he has zero credibility on this issue and should refrain from lecturing other people on how to conduct themselves.

Councillor Andrew Carter, Clarke Street, Calverley.

SIR - Thanks to the fuel price protest, we now have a comprehensive insight into our Prime Minister's thinking, or lack of it.

1. A spontaneous protest is an orchestrated campaign to block the flow of fuel to the public. Rubbish!

2. Government by the people for the people is not Mr Blair's idea of democracy, given there was 91 per cent support from the public for the protest at one point.

3. Despite agreeing at his press conference that this is a genuine grievance, he intends to do little or nothing about it, at least not until just before the next election when world oil prices will probably have fallen anyway.

4. In defence of his own shortcomings, he resorts to slandering decent people striving to make a living.

It's been said that "people get the government they deserve". We don't deserve this one. Let's get rid, soonest!

E Dunn, Trenam Park Drive, Thackley.

SIR - On September 15, 1940, a small group of dedicated people took on the might of German aggression and saved Britain. Sixty years later almost to the day, a small group of dedicated people blockading the oil refineries brought Britain to its knees.

Two battles of Britain, two very different ideals.

R J Lacey, Wrose Road, Bradford 2.

SIR - Dr Brown (Letters, September 8) accuses Councillor Herdson and myself of ignoring him. Does he not remember that in May 1999 he contacted me on this same issue? Because I took the matter seriously, both David and I undertook a residents' survey in the area.

We contacted 138 households in the area and asked for their opinion. This was done as Ward Councillors and at no cost to local taxpayers.

Just seven households responded, only Dr Brown's being in favour of traffic calming. To take the issue further, involving local taxpayers' money, when only one out of 138 households were in favour would have been an abuse of public funds.

In the circumstances David and I could not take the matter further. If opinion has changed in the last 15 months, then we are only too happy to look at the matter again.

My response to Dr Brown and copies of the consultation replies are in my files.

Councillor John Carroll (Shipley West Ward), Bradford Road, Shipley.