CYCLING - The law states that riding on footpaths is illegal. To make the law more readily enforceable, from August 1, 1999, for anyone over 16 it was made subject to a fixed penalty fine of £30.

Thus, the police no longer have to take these offenders to court, so that less police time and paperwork are required to bring the offenders to book.

However, in Stockton, particularly in our pedestrianised high street areas, the problem continues, notwithstanding the best efforts of our pedestrians' group to have it dealt with.

All that we have achieved so far is a promise from the borough council to install some No Cycling signs. - FR Johnson, Stockton Pedestrians' Group.

EDUCATION

YOUR article (Echo, Sept 4) relating the concern of Professor Vivian Cook on the word-spelling abilities of British schoolchildren, prompted me to express a opinion on the subject.

After the basics of vowel sounds are known, pronunciation of words becomes an important factor as regards the correct spelling of those words, but, alas, in recent times, standards of pronunciation in radio and television have slipped.

Misuse of correct English often heard over the airwaves include 'drawring' as opposed to drawing, 'lor 'n order' as opposed to law and order. As to whether or not this misuse of the English language is by design, or illiterate ignorance, one can only guess, but any children within earshot of it may well take up spelling the words as heard.

The ever rising tide of Anglo-American mid-Atlantic speak may also be playing a part in the falling standards of English spelling in our schools. - GH. Grieveson, Richmond.

PARKING

I WAS absolutely outraged when I was given a £60 parking charge while shopping in the main high street at Bishop Auckland. The charge was given to me by a private company. I now learn from the Wear Valley Council Community Services that the car park to the rear of the high street is privately owned by the various shops.

I do not know who the charges go to. I was advised that the shopkeepers have asked this company to patrol the car park and catch non-paying victims. This car park is very small, having previously had another clamping company about two years ago relinquish their rights to tow people away.

No one knew or cared who owned the car park then, but now we, as residents of the town, are subjected to this petty bureaucratic nonsense in order to provide custom for the shopkeepers of Bishop Auckland.

Wake up people, learn from the US. They have huge car parks and service many diverse customers and do it well with a very customer-centred approach.

Surely there is something seriously wrong with such a small town which has limited parking anyway. These people are driving custom away to shop elsewhere and I for one will not be returning to their shops.

Bishop Auckland needs a revamp and new inventive ideas - they still live in the dark ages. - S Gardner, Bishop Auckland.

REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

THE people of Yorkshire, north Lincolnshire, along with those of the North-West and most of the rest of the country of England have told John Prescott what he can do with his EU-initiated regional assemblies.

However, Mr Prescott seems to think, rightly or wrongly, that the people of Northumbria and Durham, to be known as the North-East, are stupid enough to vote in even more pen-pushing parasites to live off your taxes.

It was estimated that a Yorkshire/Humberside regional assembly would have cost £47m to set up and would increase every council tax payer's bill by £111 a year.

This, of course, is utter nonsense. We know from the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament that it would cost far more than that and how do people in the North-East feel about no longer being part of England?

Don't fall for this expensive mix of tax and red tape. Don't you have enough politicians interfering in your lives? Just say No to Mr Prescott and the EU. - Eric Firth, Bradford.

THOMAS Conlon (HAS, Aug 25) lambasted Kevin Thompson (HAS, Aug 14) for not reading a turgid Government document ahead of November's referendum.

There is plenty of other material available to help inform public opinion on both the regional assembly issue and on local government reorganisation. However, public bodies have a duty to present balanced information to the electorate.

Rather than accusing The Northern Echo of bias, Mr Conlon should be concerned that six district councils are contributing a council taxpayers' expense to an overt campaign supporting one of the options in the local government vote in County Durham.

This contrasts sharply with the information provided by Durham County Council spelling out the pros and cons of the two options facing voters in County Durham's council shake-up.

Besides the obvious cost savings and service benefits offered by Option A - the creation of County Durham Council - it also provides an opportunity for a new form of democracy that reduces the number of councillors and gives real people a bigger say in the running of their community. Option B splits our great county into three, costs more and offers the same old style of political leadership. Give people the facts and the choice is clear. - Councillor Terry Hogan, Newton Aycliffe.

A REGIONAL assembly for the North-East is fundamentally a good idea.

Unfortunately, the way in which the whole process is being managed is anything but a good thing. We've got more than one "no" campaign, and more than one "yes" campaign, and neither can explain the relationship (or not) between one group and the next.

Until there is a single, co-ordinated campaign run by someone with at least a fundamental amount of political skill and knowledge, and who is doing it for me and not themselves, my vote will be "no" - if I ever get the chance to vote on the subject. - Paul Dobson, Darlington.