SIR - As a regular driver on Thornton Road in Bradford (the stretch that starts from Grattan up to the traffic lights where Morrisons is), I am annoyed at the amount of car users who think they are either a taxi or a bus.

I sit there obeying the highway rules and count the amount of car users that fly (yes, fly) up the bus and taxi lane.

The lane is especially for buses and taxis between the hours of 4.30-6pm so the only conclusion that I can draw to this is either they do not possess a timepiece, or think that just because they are turning left they have a divine right to use the lane.

I once saw a policeman tucked down by the side of Charles Sydney's booking the offending drivers, just the once mind you. I was even acknowledged by the officer for obeying the bus and taxi lane.

Surely by placing a policeman there on a regular basis and booking the offending drivers it would not only pay for his wage but go a long way to prevent anymore accidents happening.

Mrs K J Smith, Horton Bank Top, Bradford.

SIR - I read regularly in your paper about young people saying they are bored. Why! In one edition this week, someone said that because the club he ran would have to take a cut in funding, some of the youths would have no where to go and he said this would lead to trouble and vandalism.

I don't see why.

When I was young (I am in my late 70s) we did not have all their clubs and sports centres. But we didn't get bored often. We just took a bat and ball or football into the recreation ground.

And my children didn't have this problem. My wife and I saw to that and kept them occupied, so my question is "Why are they bored"? They have bats and balls and footballs so why don't they get out into the playing fields etc and enjoy themselves?

H Stowell, Lodore Road, Bradford 2.

SIR - Hats off to Tony Blair for his crusade against Oxbridge elitism.

A prime example is of a girl who lives in a local village. After obtaining outstanding A-level results she decided to take mathematics and went for an interview at Cambridge. At the interview the only questions posed were what was her father's occupation and income - there was no questions of an academic nature at all.

The girl came home furious, and decided not to take up the offer, much to the chagrin of her headmistress who pleaded with her to accept the Cambridge offer.

The girl went to Exeter University and gained a first class honours degree in mathematics, and must therefore be given full marks for her strength of character as well as her academic skills.

Alan Shorrock, Park Wood Drive, Skipton.

SIR - With regards to the boastful article about athletes all picked from Woodhouse Grove School (T&A, June 27), I would like to point to a few home truths about these elite schools.

This school is a fee-paying school, a private school. It offers students access to every type of sport - rugby, cricket, tennis, hockey, athletics, etc.

On any day, when passing this school, I see coaches teaching students how to play these sports.

In contrast, on passing State-run Eccleshill Upper there were students trying to hit a tennis ball in grass that was over a foot high.

Down at Woodhouse Grove the students are out on the playing fields throughout the year. For the grass to be over a foot deep in late June shows just how little the sports field at Eccleshill gets used.

That wouldn't happen at Woodhouse Grove School. It gets cut often.

It's about time parents of children in State schools like Eccleshill went and had a look how different their children are treated compared to these private elite schools then demanded the same for theirs.

Money should not be the deciding factor where education is concerned.

Peter Wood, Ranelagh Avenue, Ravenscliffe.

SIR - How insensitive can some people be? Recently the Day & Nite Stores (now part of a multi-million pound concern) bought six individual shop units in Avondale Buildings, Shipley, to convert into a general store.

This meant they were encroaching on the neighbouring businesses in the block - a mini-market on one side and a newsagents on the other.

The mini-market sold out to Day & Nite Stores rather than go bankrupt, while the newsagent sought Council approval for a change of use of his premises.

This is proving to be a lengthy business and he still has no decision to work on. Meanwhile, a noticeboard outside the now partially-opened new store proclaims "Manager's Special - Half-price Newspapers".

Need I comment further?

Mrs Barbara Raine, Marlborough Road, Shipley.

SIR - I was very sorry that there wasn't a firework display in Peel Park this year. Last year you printed numerous letters from people complaining about the event.

Anyone who attended this event last year would have seen how popular it was.

Come on, let's all have a good night. Put it back as the Bradford Festival's finishing spot next year.

I bet the fireworks lit up a lot of people's lives, so let's think again.

J Irving, Killinghall Road, Bradford 3.

SIR - Re the sacking of PC Pentith. A remark made without malice - however inappropriate - does not deserve the severe punishment which was recently dealt out by West Yorkshire Police.

We would all agree that of course the remark should not have been made in the first place, but surely a reprimand would have been enough?

As I understand it, this well-respected police officer - who has many years of excellent service to his credit - will now have to vacate his home.

Why punish PC Pentith's wife and family as well by turning them out and causing them to suffer the stigma of racism?

This whole incident is a public relations exercise. West Yorkshire Police are sacrificing PC Pentith and his family merely to prove their intolerance of racism.

A E Briggs, Hirstwood Road, Saltaire.

SIR - There's still time for your readers to nominate their choice for this year's prestigious national People of the Year Awards. The event has a long pedigree and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

RADAR (The Royal Association for Disability And Rehabilitation), the charity which organises these annual awards, would like to have nominations. It can be somebody already famous who you feel has achieved still more over the last 12 months, or somebody so far completely unknown who has made an outstanding contribution to life in the community or performed an act of heroism or unselfishness. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in London on November 8.

RADAR, with the Queen Mother as its Patron, is the national lifeline and voice for the UK's 8.6 million disabled people.

Peter Mansell, Director, RADAR, 12 City Forum, 150 City Road, London EC1V 8AF.