Sir, - I have been reading with increasing interest over the last couple of weeks your articles about the youth hostel in Ellingstring.

As a frequent visitor to the village I am amazed that the Youth Hostel Association is considering selling this hostel because it is no longer viable.

More often than not the parking outside the hostel is over-flowing and not, I might add, with the type of-car normally associated with impoverished "youth hostellers".

On many occasions I have often wondered why someone who can afford to drive around in a middle-management-type car would want to spend £7 per night sharing a room with a load of strangers.

The YHA is a registered charity and as such if it were to sell the hostel then it should be offered on the open market to attract the highest price possible. An article in the D&S Times on 13 September suggested that the current manager would be invited to buy the premises. Surely this would not fulfil that obligation.

What alarms me more though is the proposal for the current manager to buy the hostel and run it privately, attracting, so it has been reported, hen parties and the like. The unique charm of Ellingstring is that it is on the way to nowhere. There is no need to drive through the village unless you live there or are visiting friends.

This allows the children who live in the village to play outside in relative safety. Bringing more people to this quiet little backwater will undeniably change the character of the place.

R WOOD

Big Yard,

Thornton Watlass.

Just typical

Sir, - Although I don't know the lady - Moira I'Anson - her case (D&S Oct 11) just about sums up Harrogate Council.

I travel through Ripon every night between 8pm and 10pm and I have yet to see a traffic warden. It is commonplace to see traffic parked on double yellow lines at takeaways at this time of night. Is the traffic warden - who I haven't seen - ticketing these?

There are two possible explanations for this. Either he or she is only looking out for the likes of Moira L'Anson or there are so many takeaways in Ripon the warden would need a Formula 1 racing car to get round them all.

As for Harrogate Council, as the Yorkshire saying goes we all know they have "nowt between their lugs". Moira I'Anson will be paying obscene rates and she is one of the few shops in Ripon that aren't takeaways, charity shops, estate agents and building societies. Harrogate Council should be bending over backwards to help her.

Good luck, Moira, with your case, but also what is Ripon Council doing to help her case. Nowt.

MALCOLM RAINFORTH

Southfield Avenue,

Ripon.

Teessiders priority?

Sir, - While Steve O'Neill (D&S letters, Oct 11) seems mightily pleased that he and his mother have been allocated what is obviously a very scarce resource - a two bedroom bungalow on Priory Close - some of us are absolutely amazed.

Those of us who have lived all our lives in Northallerton and been on the waiting list for some considerable time feel downright disgusted that properties originally built and paid-for by people from this area should now be given as a priority to residents from Teesside.

What is happening to our town?

We now have a town council made up with people often co-opted, (not elected), some living in other parish council areas who seem very strongly political rather than parochially geared, to look after our interests.

Is it not time that someone asked why Northallerton Town Council tax charge is so high. The average householder in Northallerton is paying £22.14p more for the same services as residents in Romanby.

DAVID WRIGHT

Central Drive,

Northallerton.

Are you safe?

Sir, - Soon we will lose British Summer Time, so are your car lights working? When did you last check them including the rear and brake lights? What about your headlights - are they correctly adjusted so as not to dazzle on-coming drivers?

Note, it is illegal to use fog-lights unless visibility is seriously reduced.

Remember on single carriageways the national speed limit is 60mph. In built-up areas, even if the speed limit is 30mph is this a safe speed for the road conditions?

Keep two hands on the steering wheel, how can you hold a mobile phone, the steering wheel and change gear?

Think about your driving for your own safety and everyone else's.

M GRAHAM

Ash Tree Road,

Bedale