Sir, - I am concerned about the proposed relocation of Darlington College of Technology from Cleveland Avenue to a site on Yarm Road. It is very pleasing to hear the college continues to do so well and I wish it every success for the future but it seems the move has not been thought through.

Who will benefit from £27m being spent and at what cost to the people of Eastbourne and further afield?

Inevitably, the majority of students will have a longer, more difficult journey causing them, or their parents, even more expense. From my understanding, it is good experience during free college sessions for students to visit the town centre for shopping and meeting other people.

It is always a pleasure to see young people visiting Darlington's wonderful library, It is also beneficial to the town from a trade point of view and for the general public to have the place brightened up by their presence. This is unlikely to happen if they are not within walking distance.

Already Parkgate/Yarm Road is one of the busiest roads leading to and from the town centre and this will not be improved with the opening of the new football stadium and several other developments being built or planned for Morton Palms. At peak periods junctions are virtually gridlocked and motorists resort to using sideroads to speed up their journeys.

Quite often the traffic is held up as far back as St Cuthbert's Way when children from Eastbourne School are crossing. As this is the situation now how is this area going to cope with another 15,000-plus students?

Further road congestion will not only be damaging to the residents but also to businesses and unhelpful to rail and airport users.

Surely the site in Cleveland Avenue is large enough to accommodate all departments if the existing buildings were adapted, re-modelled or completely re-built? Otherwise I would suggest that another location near the town centre or on the westbound side of the A67.

I BAINBRIDGE

Yarm Road,

Darlington.

Disgusted

Sir, - I am writing this letter on behalf of many people in Bedale following the recent events in and around the town on bonfire weekend.

We were disgusted that anybody in their right mind would take a memorial seat and burn it on the smouldering embers of the bonfire in Bedale Hall very late on Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

This was a seat in memory of the RAF personnel who defended our country during the war. A seat worth about £300 which means much more than that to many people. As a result of this despicable act by a few youths, or shall we call them louts, hundreds of young people could be deprived of a community bonfire next year. What a crying shame and what disappointed faces there will be.

The night after Sunday, we were having a Remembrance service celebrating All Souls' day. During that service between 6.30 and 7.30 we were practically blasted out of church by thundering fireworks deliberately set off in the churchyard.

On leaving church we discovered the other memorial seat missing, this one in memory of the "Woof" boy who gave his life after the war. My fellow churchwarden and I immediately went to the partly-blazing remains of the bonfire to find youths sitting on our seat along with another believed to be from the golf club.

After a lot of abusive language and denials from them for taking the seat, we could have been convinced it had walked the 200 yards on its own. We retrieved the seat and locked it away.

What with the children's play area constantly vandalised, St Gregory's Church closed for two weeks two years ago, the telephone boxes in Bedale having their doors blown off, Bedale people have just had enough.

Wouldn't it be marvellous if the guilty youngsters were to apologise for their misdemeanours and began to live and behave like reasonable human beings. I live in hope.

PETER PARLOUR

Churchwarden, St Gregory's Church,

Bedale.

Where can I get it?

Sir, - You report that McIntyre Meats, the Bainbridge abattoir, has joined the RSPCA Freedom Food scheme (D&S, Nov 8). This is good news.

But where can the concerned housewife find Freedom Food meat? Certainly not in the supermarkets throughout this region. Where then, is this locally-slaughtered meat which has been raised to humane welfare standards, going?

PATRICIA RAMSAY

Rook House,

East Cowton.

Larch, not pine

Sir, - The legend beneath the photograph on this page last week referred to "pine cones" but I would think they are from a larch tree, unless my knowledge of dendrology isn't up to scratch.

RICHARD J COUNTER

BSc (Forestry) Hons

Roseberry Crescent,

Great Ayton.