SIR – A new exhibition in London by this country’s greatest living artist, Bradford’s David Hockney (pictured), has just opened – and previews reveal it is magnificent.

Proud Yorkshireman Hockney has filled walls in the Royal Academy with dazzling paintings and drawings showing his beloved Wolds in all their glory.

Welcome To Yorkshire is, of course, hoping that it will inspire tourists from all over the country to travel to see the area for themselves, particularly Woldgate Woods.

But a collection of photographs of the Woods taken earlier this month for the ‘Unofficial Hockney Trail’ make shocking and depressing viewing. They show tyres, furniture and general detritus spoiling the unique beauty. Welcome To Yorkshire and East Riding Yorkshire Council do not appear to be looking after our heritage and this prehistoric Wolds landscape deserves better.

It seems to me and others that it requires its own National Park Authority, and I sincerely hope that there will be a groundswell of public opinion to bring this about – before it is too late.

Godfrey Bloom, UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, Main Street, Wressle, Selby, Yorkshire