I FEEL I must respond to the letter Steve Noble, managing director of Arriva North East (HAS, Jun 13).

Mr Noble states: "Arriva is dedicated to delivering transport services that meet customers' needs and encourage social inclusion."

Point one: In April this year, Arriva announced that it was axing the X95 service between Loftus and Kendal. Many of the regular passengers contacted Mr Noble or his managers and received many different reasons for their decision. Eventually, they all came up with a uniform reason for not running the X95. Arriva was concentrating on services within the area and not running inter-region services.

Many of us have asked why, if this is so, the X85 from Durham to Kendal is still running. Neither Mr Noble or his managers have bothered to answer this question.

Customers need this service and, although many have complained, the service will not be reinstated.

Point two: Social inclusion. The X95 services started from and ran through East Cleveland which, at 40 per cent, has the lowest car ownership in the country. By discontinuing this service Arriva is not encouraging social inclusion.

Many of us have contacted our MPs regarding the decision and they have been very sympathetic and are willing to take up our cause.

Finally, comments like the ones made by Mr Noble in his letter look good on paper. However, we, the passengers, have found out that Arriva is very good with words, but the words are irrelevant if it cannot or will not deliver the transport services that the fare-paying passengers require. - Donald Rose, Saltburn.

IN reply to Steve Noble (HAS, June 13), it is relevant to point out that the company, while pursuing Government transport policy, has had to withdraw a service, particularly popular with hikers, from Loftus to Kendal, which ran thrice weekly for the past seven years.

Most of us who used it have access to cars. Four people travelling to the Lakes by car works out at about the same cost as the fare was, but puts more pressure on roads, parking, etc.

The reason given by Mr Noble for discontinuing the service was not that the route was uneconomic, but that Arriva lacked a bus and driver. Also, the company needs to concentrate on the East Coast routes.

No doubt these are legitimate management decisions, though it is likely that a driver could have been found. What is needed, however, for bus companies to be able to provide services which are viable, is the Government will to support them. For instance, by giving tax advantages on new equipment to extend their services, rather than nebulous performance targets to increase bus usage by ten per cent by 2010. - Richard Watson, Manfield, Darlington.

HOW kind of Steve Noble (HAS, June 13) to make us aware of Green Transport Week.

Seemingly, this is to encourage people to think about our travel options and to inform us that Arriva is dedicated to delivering services that meet our needs and provide social inclusion.

Is this the same company that axed the Teesside to the Lake District service, encouraging us to use cars to travel there and back, causing more traffic on the already dangerous A66 route?

He is also correct in saying the targets set of reliability, accessibility, fleet age and passenger information are challenging. To my mind, a little too challenging for this company that has, through various means, reduced local competition and now seems able to do just what it likes. - W Bennett, Newton Aycliffe.

NEW LABOUR

I AM a veteran who was brought up under the Tories in the pre-war years of poverty and depression. Some of my class mates, without shoes to wear, were obliged to come to school in their bare feet.

We never expected luxuries nor did we receive any. Indeed, I always considered myself to be lucky because I was always well shod.

I remember when the Jarrow hunger marchers reached London and the Tory Government refused to speak to them.

I am saddened by some of the letters written to HAS, obviously written by working-class Toriy wannabees, people who, for some unfathomable reason, hate their own class.

No doubt they are following in the footsteps of that working-class woman who became Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She was successful in crushing the unions and creating massive unemployment, aided by her working-class cabinet minister, the unlikeable Norman Tebbit, who told us that if we wanted work we had to go and look for it as his government had no intention of finding it for us.

Thankfully, I was able to look after myself and now that I am retired am being well looked after by a caring Government which has turned this country into one of the richest in the world. - Fred Bowman, Peterlee.

MIDDLE EAST

I THINK it is a mistake to regard the Palestinian suicide bombers simply as desperate people with no other way of reacting to tanks and helicopter gunships. The killers and their families may fall for this fiction, but their mentors are cynical extremists who will never accept Israel's right to exist.

However, Ariel Sharon has made a grave mistake by refusing to distinguish between Hamas and the PLO. These organisations spring from entirely different roots. Yasser Arafat has publicly condemned terrorism and has acknowledged Israel's right to exist. He must be held to these commitments but it is futile to demand that he puts an end to the terrorist attacks before negotiations can proceed.

One might as well bomb the headquarters of Sinn Fein and place Gerry Adams under house arrest unless he puts a stop to the activities of the Real IRA. It is not in his power to do so.

We cannot negotiate with extremists, but we can and should negotiate with those who make legitimate and achievable demands and genuinely seek peace. By doing this we can marginalise and disempower the men of violence. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.