PUBLIC TRANSPORT: THERE has been a considerable amount of correspondence in your columns recently about bus services in parts of County Durham, essentially those provided by Arriva.

When bus services were privatised we were told that this would encourage competition, leading to lower fares and a better service.

We are still waiting. There is no competition as Arriva and Stagecoach have carved up most routes between them and these companies seem to have carte blanche to do exactly as they like.

Even on the railways, where there is a measure of competition, we see GNER seeking to prevent a smaller company from running a service from the North-East to London on the grounds that it may damage its profits.

Perhaps some learned person would like to explain the benefits of privatisation of public transport as far as the fare-paying passenger is concerned? - Peter Elliott, Eaglescliffe.

PLEA FROM TIME LORD

AS an ambassador for the UK learning disability charity Mencap, I have seen firsthand the huge rewards that come through volunteering.

With that in mind, I want to let you know that September is Disability Month, part of the Year of the Volunteer celebrations.

Across the country, thousands of disabled people will be volunteering by helping those both with and without a disability.

Those who have benefitted from the support of a volunteer understand the difference that volunteers can make to the quality of other people's lives. That is why many disabled people are volunteers themselves.

From assisting to maintain National Trust heritage sites in partnership with charities such as CSV, to coaching able-bodied athletes, volunteers with a disability are making a positive contribution to their community. I hope that their efforts, and the large number of events taking place during Disability Month, will encourage more people to give volunteering a go.

To find out how you can get involved in the Year of the Volunteer, and for details of events happening in your area, please visit www.yearofthevolunteer.org - Christopher Eccleston, Mencap ambassador and former Dr Who.

FUEL BLOCKADE

I HEAR with dismay the plans of the fuel lobby to blockade the fuel depots, ultimately leaving the rest of us without fuel.

Without petrol I won't be able to visit my elderly and frail father to give him the essential support he needs to live at home. My father won't be able to visit my mother in her nursing home.

He will not be able to have the supplies of food and other essentials delivered.

Multiply these scenarios several thousand times. Without fuel, non-emergency health staff are not able to support the sick in the community. Social care staff are not able to provide essential service for the elderly.

Charities have to put their work on hold, including vital support for children in foster and adoptive homes.

Local shops, on which many sick and elderly people rely, are the first to run out of provisions.

Protests such as are being contemplated by the fuel lobby, hit the most vulnerable in our society first. They hit them quickly and they hit them hard.

Surely there is another way to get their point across without making the lives of these groups of people much harder than they already are. - IW Evans, Darlington.

WITH our country beset and under threat from one set of terrorists and our police service stretched to its limits, Farmers For Action consider that the time is opportune for another attempt to bring our country to a halt.

I suppose that we will see a repeat of last time when a peaceful protest like the one planned amounted to blockading refineries with JCBs, bulldozers and tractors.

Slow-moving convoys of protestors' lorries deliberately denied other citizens their right to pass on our highways.

Farmers, already in receipt of vehicle fuel at concessionary prices, consider that they are being taxed unfairly.

Where do they think, other than taxation, that the handsome compensation paid to them for the loss of their herds in the foot-and-mouth outbreak came from?

They tell us that they are taking up the cudgels on behalf of us all and I have told all my friends this.

I failed to notice this philanthropy during the extreme potato shortage of two decades ago when potatoes rose to £21 for an eight-stone sack. - Harry Henson, Durham.

HURRICANE KATRINA

LIKE many watching the TV images of the scenes of devastation in New Orleans, the powerlessness is overwhelming.

New Orleans has become the latest victim of nature. Like the tsunami and the many earthquakes that have ripped through communities, the aftermath presents a continuing threat. I do feel we need to focus on natural disasters and how we can deal with those whose lives are in peril. Not an easy task, of course.

Not even the world's most powerful nation is immune. The scenes of carnage, looting and of disease resemble a Third World landscape.

Whatever criticism might be levelled at President Bush concerning his government's response to the tragedy in New Orleans, we must all be aware of our vulnerability and act where we can.

While certain regions of the world are susceptible to extreme weather and, indeed, the United States tries to defend itself against hurricanes and tornadoes, the consequences seem more dire than they did. Are there any factors that are apparent now that were less evident, say 20 years ago?

Does ecology and the environment have a part to play?

One thing is clear: whatever the causes, the human costs of tragedy do not seem to matter. It would seem that there is complacency, an acceptance that people die and will continue to face death and destruction because of where they live.

But their vulnerability is our collective responsibility. It is important to identify with scientific and technological advancement, but this must be measured in how we address natural disasters. - Bernie Walsh, Durham.

ANIMAL RIGHTS

ALTHOUGH I am delighted the Staffordshire guinea pig farm, which bred the animals for medical research, has bowed to pressure and said it intends to close (Echo, Aug 24), I am sick of the media repeatedly focusing on the term 'animal rights extremists'. Not all of us are.

I certainly do not condone violence towards any human or animal. We who campaign peacefully by leafleting, collecting signatures for petitions and giving talks on various issues, are ignored in the main.

Luckily Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) won a High Court victory when the world's largest animal testing laboratory failed in its attempt to gag it.

Five hundred scientists and doctors support medical research using animals, but not one of them will appear in a live TV debate because they are afraid this work will be exposed as a sham.

We were promised a judicial review but the Government has backed away and let us down. - M Embling, Crook.