MILLENNIUM DOME: The criticism of the Millennium Dome goes on and on, all because the project was a financial flop. But the dome was not built for profit.

The then Prime Minister, John Major, appointed his deputy, Michael Heseltine, to build the dome to welcome in the year 2000.

Just as Nelson's Column was erected to honour the victorious admiral, so the dome was erected to honour the millennium. Statues erected throughout the nation to honour our heroes were never built for profit.

The reason John Major put Michael Heseltine in charge was because Mr Heseltine was a successful businessman. He is, in fact, a self-made millionaire. What better man for the job. The biggest mistake was choosing to build the dome in London.

Apart from the traffic problems, the lack of parking spaces, the horrendous prices of everything in London, it cost hundreds of millions just to clear the site. The work would have been done much quicker and at a more reasonable price anywhere but London.

Look at the disgusting price now being quoted to build a football stadium in London.

I am convinced that, if the dome had been built in the provinces, it would have been built at a profit and declared a success. - Geo Davison, Hetton-le-Hole.

WORLD CUP

I FEEL I must write to put some sanity back into the comments made during the World Cup regarding England.

People appear to be confusing a great result (against Argentina) with a great performance. In fact, it was a distinctly average performance against particularly poor opposition.

Again, against Denmark the opposition was poor and, apart from three soft goals, so were England. Neither the team nor any of the players can be described as world class or anywhere near.

The euphoria over Beckham is a mystery. Here is a man who cannot tackle, cannot beat a man, cannot use his left foot (even before the injury) and does not score many goals. In fact, it is debatable whether the description of him as a footballer is accurate at all.

Having said all this, it would not surprise me the way results have been going if England actually beat Brazil. But if they did, it would probably be the biggest shock of them all. - K O'Brien, Ferryhill.

PRIVACY LAWS

ALTHOUGH the Government has put on hold plans to allow any government or council department to read people's e-mails to help catch terrorists and criminals, such a law would never have worked.

This is because of the wide availability of data encryption and communications software which enable the securing of any communications line and the sending of unbreakable data encrypted e-mails and other files over the net makes such legislation worthless even before it becomes law.

Equally, proponents of such legislation assume that terrorists and criminals will be communicating with each other using unecrypted e-mails on unprotected lines, which reveals how little knowledge they have concerning the Internet and computers in general. - HE Smith, Spennymoor.

LISTED BUILDING

I OFTEN travel along Station Road and Hopetown Lane in Darlington, and it's sad to see the area so rundown. The amount of litter, especially at the junction of Surtees Street and Hopetown Lane, is appalling. Does the council ever sweep the area?

Hopetown itself is probably the oldest industrial area of Darlington, yet there is little evidence of any improvements to brighten up the lives of the good people who live there. Not for them the luxury of a "Drop in Cafe", a community centre, or tree-lined avenues. They, it seems, have just to get on with their lives.

The biggest disgrace of all is the condition of the external fabric of the old Stockton & Darlington Carriage Works in Hopetown Lane. Why was this Grade 2 listed building allowed to deteriorate into its present condition? This building is part of our glorious railway heritage.

Who is responsible for this, and what happened to the £300,000 grant which this building was awarded for its restoration, it certainly wasn't spent on the interior? I've been in there, and the alterations inside do not appear to be good value for money.

Perhaps someone from Darlington Borough Council would like to enlighten us. - M Middleton, Darlington.

RECYCLING POLICIES

TO comply with EU rules, motorists will now have to pay £100 to get rid of clapped-out cars.

A good idea in practice because we should be concerned with the environmental impact and increased costs of less polluting recycling practices.

In reality, it will lead to more abandoned cars, more vehicles being set alight and causing pollution and in greater costs to local authorities to remove the vehicles.

Do the bureaucrats think that someone who pays £300 for a run-around for a couple of months is going to pay £100 to dispose of it?

If the bureaucrats ever descended into the real practical world where we all live then they might get a dose of common sense reality.

However, perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone (or should I say 6 kg) and encourage people to stuff their unwanted fridge in the back of the car before they abandon it, thus reducing the UK fridge mountain. - Neil Herron, Sunderland.