ROAD SIGNS: I am Australian. Having motored a few thousand very pleasant and easy miles through France, we came to the UK and have concluded that your road signs are made for locals who presumably know their way around, and are not made to help and guide foreign visitors.

We drove from Alston to Hartlepool. Having successfully got through Bishop Auckland on the A689 we came to a roundabout where the A689 apparently disappeared. The sign showed only the A688.

In our confusion we went round the roundabout three times looking for the A689, and then backtracked to see if we had missed the sign. But back at the first roundabout, there was the A689 sign. Extraordinary! How can a road end so suddenly when the map clearly shows it leading into Hartlepool?

A local person told us that we had to go further on the A688 and then turn off for the A689. Of course, all the locals know this, but strangers don't.

Then we came across signs for "A689 Teesside". We got out our 2005 road atlas and looked up "Teesside" in the index. Would you believe it, Teesside was not there.

Very frustrated and confused, we stopped to ask about this town called Teesside. No such place, we were told; it is an area. I am sure the locals are aware of that, but how the hell do you expect strangers to know this? Quite extraordinary!

On our return journey, we were looking for a sign which indicated the way to Bishop Auckland town centre. At a roundabout, a sign said "Auckland Way". So we headed this way. Oh dear. Wrong again.

By then we were getting quite accustomed to the vagaries of the system, and it all became a really wonderful challenge.

Yes, we did eventually get back to our place of rest and this experience amongst a few others is something to relate over a drink back in Oz. France is terribly boring by comparison. It is all too easy over there. - Jenny O'Toole, Australia.

LEGAL REFORMS

TONY Blair's latest pledge to reform our legal system is beyond belief.

He pledged to crack down on terrorism as he set free the most dangerous IRA men imaginable, and fear and intimidation still rule on the streets of Belfast.

He pledged to get tough on so-called preachers of hate but has not sent a single one home because he is hindered by the Human Rights Act. He pledged to tear it up even though it was he that tied Britain to it in the first place.

He pledged to improve public services and reduce violent crime, but hasn't. He conceals unemployment in a complex benefit system and all the signs say his Government is losing its grip on the first class economy it inherited.

His smiles and his slogans are usually without substance, but for him to even attempt to destroy the legal system that we gave the world would be an injustice. - Des More, Darlington.

S ALDERSON (HAS, Oct 12) complains of the police doing nothing with regard to vandalism and rowdy behaviour, but does not seem to mention co-operating with the police.

Near my home is a bus shelter which is vandalised with monotonous regularity, the glass broken as frequently as it is replaced. But there are homes with people in them looking directly towards the shelter.

Could these residents not know that this goes on under their very noses and have they no telephones with which to contact the police? Could they not give the police a little help? How can the police be expected to control an area if no-one gives them any help or information? - R Lewis, Birtley.

THANKS

Crook Salvation Army would like to thank everyone who gave so generously to their annual appeal this year. The total raised was £2,015 from the people of Crook, Howden-le-Wear, Wolsingham, Stanhope, Toronto, Witton-le-Wear, Hunwick, Sunnybrow, Helmington Row and North Bitchburn. Their generosity enables the work of the Army to go on providing help and support where it is needed. - Nan Lowe, Corps Secretary, Crook Salvation Army.

LOCAL POLITICS

I ATTENDED a meeting at Howden-le-Wear community centre on October 13 purely to support local people. I live in Wear Valley and would travel within Wear Valley to support anyone who has a just cause.

Five minutes into the meeting, I was asked, if there were no by-election would I still be supporting them? The simple answer would be yes. The ward begins a few hundred yards from where I live.

Where was our county councillor for Howden-le-Wear? And, as for people not living in the ward, what about previous district councillors and county councillors? Representing Howden-le-Wear, they lived in Willington and Billy Row.

I have family and friends who had/have business interests in the ward and I stood as candidate in the May county council elections. I care about the area and am proud to live in Wear Valley.

Not once did I mention any by-election, but was accused of making an election speech. Any future meetings I will be there to support. - John Bailey, Liberal Democrat Candidate, Crook.

REGIONAL ASSEMBLY

AUCKLAND Castle is without doubt a marvellous building, has great presence, and is historically very important, being the official residence of the Bishop of Durham for 800 years. That it lies in my home town makes it even more important to promote it positively.

I am aware that it is now an excellent venue for hospitality and weddings, and since the Conservatives have used it and I've attended a wedding there, I can vouch for its excellence.

However, I'm not sure the Regional Assembly, a body we voted against in great numbers, should be using public money to hold a dinner party at the castle. On the September 21, it invited members of the European Committee of the Regions to dinner there. September 22 was the day of European Committee of the Regions event in Durham, supported by Wear Valley District Council among others.

That I had to dig for information on the Internet, namely the European Committee of the Regions public announcements, for an event that happened in my home town, proves the EU and Regional Assembly wish to push their agenda without your knowledge. - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland Conservatives.

SKY BOWL

IF DURHAM County Council persists in its intention to fund its Sky Bowl project with taxpayers' money it will generate a great deal of resentment and adverse publicity.

However, it could avoid such a situation if it opened up the funding to public subscription, as was done for similar projects in the past.

Councillors, business people, union leaders and other supporters who are in favour of the project could start the ball rolling by subscribing, say £100 each, out of their own pockets.

When the Sky Bowl was finally completed those who had subscribed would be content in the knowledge that they had helped to bring it about while those who had not could not complain.

Is this approach something which the council could possibly consider? - J Routledge, Witton Gilbert.