BRIGHT JACKETS: WHY the outcry about the fluorescent jackets worn by offenders as they work out their sentences doing community service? (Echo, Aug 3).

Apart from the safety angle, the fact is these workers are criminals (hopefully ex-criminals) paying their dues to society.

They should be high profile so that the community they have wronged can see and appreciate that justice is being done. Bright jackets serve this purpose.

Those who are whimpering about the enforcement of wearing them are pandering to the criminal rights brigade rather than restitution to the community.

Besides, the Probation Service spokesperson is proud of the work being done, so why not publicise those responsible? - EA Moralee, Billingham.

LIBRARY PRAISE

I DO not think enough people in Crook appreciate what an outstanding asset the town has in our local branch of Durham County Library.

The branch offers a range of services: books, of course, of which there is a wide selection, but also an excellent information service, and facilities for study and computer use - all provided in an informal, friendly atmosphere. As for the library staff, they are unfailingly courteous, obliging, patient, good-humoured and helpful.

In recent years there have been problems, especially on an evening, of loutish behaviour by some teenagers, situations which the library staff handle with admirable professionalism.

They should not have to put up with it though, and I think a more evident police presence is needed in the town centre in the early evening.

I have been very critical of Durham County Council over the years, and still am, but for the staff of Crook Branch Library I have nothing but praise. - T Kelly, Crook.

PLEA FROM DENISE

TODAY, more than 100 women around the UK will hear the words "you have breast cancer". Every year, around 41,000 women are diagnosed with it.

They are the kind of women we all know - mums, daughters, wives, girlfriends, sisters and friends.

When I was growing up, breast cancer was seen as a death sentence. These days, the good news is that more and more women are surviving. But sadly, not enough.

Breast cancer has touched my friends and family. One of my closest friends died from it. And, as an agony aunt, I get hundreds of letters from women and their families who are affected by the disease.

For all these reasons I'm supporting All Women Together, Cancer Research UK's new breast cancer awareness and fund-raising campaign. I hope you will too.

There are lots of ways to get involved. You can pull on your walking boots and join the sponsored walks at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, Washington, on Sunday, October 2, or at Newcastle's Exhibition Park on Sunday, October 23. Or organise your own event with friends and family or work colleagues. Cancer Research UK has put together a special fund-raising pack, jammed full of ideas, to help you.

To find out more visit www.cancerresearchuk.org/breastcancer or call 0870 160 20 40. - Denise Robertson.

HUMAN RIGHTS

IN response to Andy Wheeler, (HAS, Aug 3) I think the main point here is that suspected terrorists and suicide bombers have rights.

These include the rights to a fair trial. After all we surely want the right people convicted, otherwise a miscarriage of justice will be added to the original huge injustice of innocent people being murdered. The wrong people being convicted would of course, also mean the real terrorists still being free to wreak more havoc.

As for freeloaders and illegal immigrants, the first point to make is that it would seem that the vast majority of illegal immigrants in the UK today are those who arrived legally on student or work visas. They have simply overstayed and these visas have now expired.

The vast majority of these people come from countries such as the US and Australia. As for freeloaders, it is well documented that immigrants have contributed much to the life of this country through their enterprise and hard work.

These are worrying times and I understand the fears of people such as Andy Wheeler. However, it is surely vital that we don't overact and that we stay together as one community in this country. If we don't haven't the terrorists won? - Peter Sagar, Newcastle.

Darlington STADIUM

normally I steer well clear of conspiracy theories, I mean there is more chance of Vanessa Feltz riding in the Grand National than there is of Elvis still being alive.

But is it conceivable that a previous owner of Darlington FC had built a stadium that, as well as being thoroughly uncomfortable, is only marginally fit for the purpose?

In addition, was this a deliberate act to get back at greedy players, disgruntled fans, the borough council and the people of Darlington generally?

I pose these questions after watching Darlington play at Rushden and Diamonds last Saturday. Now Rushden has a new stadium but it's nothing like the one we have.

It is compact - large enough for League 1 and 2 attendances. It has atmosphere. It is light and airy - so presumably there will still be grass on the pitch all season.

It is comfortable - adequate legroom between the seats. It even has a terraced area behind the goals where fans can stand.

In fact, it has most of the positive features that are conspicuous by their absence at Darlington.

Or could that be the final twist: that the stadium was designed to host something other than football? - Colin Hobson, Morpeth.

MULTICULTURALISM

PETER Mullen says it will not do to have different races and faiths separating themselves off into isolated groups (Echo, July 19).

He is right, but this is not what multiculturalism means. It means quite the opposite.

It is an inescapable fact that people of many different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds have settled in this country. To demand that everyone should forget their roots and adapt to some dreary monocultural version of Britishness is a recipe for alienation and conflict.

It is also based on a fiction - cultural diversity is, and always has been, an essential feature of Britishness. Peter Mullen says there isn't a Muslim community. Of course there is.

There are also, for example, communities of Anglican, Jewish, West Indian, Polish and Irish people. It is perfectly possible to retain one's own cultural identity and still interact constructively with those of other cultural backgrounds, as neighbours, friends or spouses. Britain is, or should be, a community of communities.

Peter Mullen points out that the London suicide bombers had not integrated into our society. Nor had the British Nationalist, David Copeland, who planted three nail-bombs in London in 1999. The suicide bombers did not adapt either to the ideals and moral principles of the vast majority of British Muslims. It is quite absurd to blame these atrocities on the cultural diversity and religious freedom which our country enjoys. - Pete Winstanley, Durham.