Letters

SEAHAM is my birthplace and it was therefore very moving to read Sarah French's account of the town in The Tide is Turning (Echo, Aug 5).

The town has been updated by a lick of paint and shimmering lights but there ought to be something that symbolises the mines, ships and railways. And the men who once hewed coal beneath the ocean bed. - MM Johnson, Newton Aycliffe.

SMOKING

ERIC Gendle (HAS, Aug 10) uses Forest's implication that tobacco is not addictive, so therefore it is a person's choice to smoke.

I don't speak for Forest nor the tobacco industry, but out of personal opinion. I think that the majority of folk smoke because of addiction. Would poorer people pay a ridiculous £4 per packet of 20 sticks out of mere choice?

In reality, the Government is guilty of extracting billions of pounds of taxation, some of which is providing politicians with the luxury to which they have become accustomed these days, via drug-laundering.

Replace the name tobacco with heroin and this shows the issue in its true light. The Government may be committing respectable corruption, but it is morally wrong. - Bethany Megan Robinson, Darlington.

EUROPE

THE issue of the single currency has tended to sway people's perception as to whether business believes that Europe is a good or bad thing.

Many people dismiss businesses that are against joining the euro as anti-European. They may well be becoming anti the European Union, with good reason, but they are not anti-European as in continental Europe.

Overall, small businesses are concerned at the increasing effect of EU regulations on their businesses. Employment law affects most small businesses. Recent Directives originating from the EU have resulted in red tape burdens that have included the Working Time Directive, Parental Leave Directive and Part-Time Working Directive.

Red tape and the vast amount of regulation coming from the EU are rapidly stifling the small business community. - Peter Troy, Chairman, Darlington Branch Federation of Small Businesses.

HOLIDAY HELL

COCKROACHES, rats, eternal building work, filthy rooms, party goers that keep going all night, even child-biting crocodiles. Unfortunately these are just some of the disasters that people have experienced on their longed-for holidays.

Yorkshire Television has included these real experiences and many more in their programmes and is looking for people to take part in a new series.

Have you just been bitterly disappointed with your annual trip away? If you have had big holiday problems and you want to talk about them on TV, give us a call on 0113-222 8645 and ask for Tanya. We would love to hear from you and we may be able to help. - Mary Ramsay, Producer, Yorkshire Television, Leeds.

WAITING LISTS

I MUST inform The Northern Echo readers about my friend who is suffering a great deal with a very painful back.

She is taking 16 painkillers a day. This has been the case since halfway through May. On May 22 she was referred by her own doctor for a MRI scan. On June 12 this appointment was made urgent and the scan was made on June 28.

Results were received on July 7 with the news she had a bulging disc and needed an operation. She was referred to surgeon for July 10.

Last week she received an urgent appointment to see him on November 1. In the meantime, her life is completely on hold. I guess she won't be going to see the Millennium Dome this year. - Eileen Stockton, Bishop Auckland.

WAR STORIES

ON behalf of my old shipmate Jimmy Alderson and myself, many thanks for publishing our wartime story (Echo, Aug 11) and also showing photographs of ourselves and of our old ship, HMS Guardian.

The Northern Echo deserves much praise for the high esteem it shows for wartime ex-servicemen. - John Connor, Russian Convoy Veteran, Willington.

SMALL SHOPS

WHERE have all the small shops gone? Well, John Prescott, in league with multi-nationals, gives licence to the idea that if enough political capital can be made of the illusion of revival, then kill them.

Walmart, which owns Asda and has just had plans approved for a superstore in Bishop Auckland, will be a reminder of this.

In Spennymoor, the illusion of revival has seen this happen. Its boarded-up shop fronts are testimony to the madness that befalls a town that follows this route, by becoming one giant car park. Walmart's immediate price war will seal this economic chaos.

We should be encouraging small business by fairer tax arrangements and as farmers' markets have both been popular and profitable, local supply for local use by shops should be seen as a diversification that would return individuality to our towns that has been lost. - C Bennett, Joint Co-ordinator, Durham Green Party, Bishop Auckland.

TV LICENCES

AS from November 1 people over the age of 75 will qualify for a concessionary TV licence covering their normal place of residence even if they live there with younger relatives.

Anyone who is aged 75 or over or will be 75 in the next 12 months should apply now to TV Licensing, Bristol BS98 1TL quoting their National Insurance number.

TV Licensing Bristol has no way of knowing who is over 75, therefore concessionary licences cannot be sent out automatically. Pensioners, young relatives and carers should band together to ensure that the greatest use is made of this long overdue concession.

Further down the line application forms for the concession will be sent out routinely with licence renewal reminders. - Thomas Craig, TV Licensing Authority.