Readers' letters from Friday 27 Jun 2008

Cricket yobs injured boy

ON Friday, myself, my wife, my nine-year-old son, five-year-old daughter and 65-year-old father-in-law went to see Lancashire v Yorkshire in the 20/20 series. It was the first time I'd been to a cricket match.It was a beautiful evening, with perfect playing conditions and there was a pleasant atmosphere in the crowd at first, with a bit of banter from some adjacent Yorkshire supporters.It was all good humoured. That was until a young boy sat in front of myself and my son was hit in the face by a five inch nail. It struck him just above his eye and cut his face. His father reported the incident, but a short time later, myself and a dozen other spectators were covered in lager thrown from the upper tier section of block F, from where the nail had been thrown.I feel these 'missiles' were intended for the Yorkshire supporters sat only a short distance away from us, who were very well-behaved. I was disgusted by these events and we left before the end of the match.There seemed to be no stewards available to sort out the situation.Drinking at cricket matches should be looked at, as this seemed to be the major factor, otherwise a spectator could lose an eye or we could have the sort of crowd trouble seen at football matches in the past. This was my first and certainly last time I'll attend a cricket match as I feel safer at a football game.Philip Smith, Northern Moor, Manchester

Philip Smith, Northern Moor

Tips for 0870 haters

YOUR correspondent C. Erskine, Swinton (Postbag June 20) quite rightly draws attention to the iniquitous requirement of Department for Work and Pensions and others, to use their chargeable 08 category numbers for enquiries. Of course the government makes money from these calls, over £3m for the DVLA alone. Yet another stealth tax on those who, as C.Erskine puts it, can least afford it.<EP> The website www.saynoto0870.com can search for geographical equivalents to 0870, 0845, 0844 numbers and even give an 0800 equivalent which, of course, is free. Regarding push button menus, it is often the case that if you push no buttons, or sometimes 0, you get to speak to a human being. Another useful site is www.gethuman.com which tells you which button to press to go direct to a human being. It appears that some organisations are using caller display to monitor the origin of the call to prevent people sidestepping their chargeable numbers. If this happens, and you get a message to call the chargeable number, just redial, prefacing the called number with 141 which hides the call origin.Sometimes letters from an organisation (and always on a credit or debit card) there is a number to use if calling from abroad. If you remove the 44 and replace it with 0 you will have a ready made number which always gets you through quickly (and usually to a British call centre).If we are to wipe out this pernicious but growing practice it is vital that everyone takes the trouble to go through this procedure.

Keith Sales, Ashton

I'm not amused

ONCE again we subjects saw an act that must make Britain the laughing stock of the world. A grown man kneeling at the foot of a woman in a dress with a two-edged sword tapping him on each shoulder. He is then ordered to "Rise Sir Knight." What would be the reason? To make the subjects realise that ordinary folk can join what is considered the elite.The usual OBEs and MBEs which are dished out are outdated - representing an empire we no longer have. The top brass of Britain seem obsessed with remaining in the 12th century. We have the yearly trail of open carriages with the standard number of flunkies dressed in centuries- old flunky gear, the various royals in each carriage waving as they are towed down the centre of Ascot racecourse. They have raised William a step higher, dressing him in the usual pantomime gear and making him a knight of the garter. It reminds me of the movie I saw as a child - Knights of the Round Table. As a child this was acceptable. As an intelligent adult? Ridiculous! Is that why we no longer build the world's finest liners or make our own heavy good vehicles, cars, motor cycles, trains? Everything Britain had in the top flight has gone. We retain uniforms, horses and plumed helmets. We use them a few times each year for the tourist trade, which seems to be the only thing our elected representatives are interested in - apart from being the first nation to send troops to other countries to attempt to control them. If they had as much interest in controlling the crimewave that is engulfing this country, maybe the Brits who are moving to other countries would remain. Many years ago I heard the same reasons why we should have foreign workers. Who benefits the most from this influx? The ones who were the reasons trade unions were formed – the gaffers!<L. Harris, Ashton

L. Harris, Ashton

Idiots with bikes on cars

WHEN is the government going to ban bicycles from being carried on the outside of cars? Is there no limit to the number of bicycles these people fit onto their cars, mostly for show, or to say 'look at my latest toys?' These things are highly dangerous and I would hate to think what would happen if they came off or were involved in an accident. Some of these idiots travel at up to 80mph on the motorways with two or three bikes on the back. God help other motorists if ever they came adrift. Why don't these people use their common sense and buy a vehicle big enough to load their luggage and cycles in, for example, a seven-seater or similar? I have a seven-seater and have taken the rear two seats out and I can get my two grandchildren's bikes and my own in quite comfortably. Common sense does help occasionally and could save the inevitable pile-up which is bound to happen one day. Ex-Continental Trucker, Manchester

Ex-Continental Trucker, Manchester

Council to blame for congestion charge

EVERYTHING about the proposed congestion charge carries the hallmarks of arrogance of the most breathtaking kind from the council.The congestion is the fault of the council in the first place, but they arrogantly put the cause down to the motorist. Fancy us motorists wanting to use our cars on the roads of Manchester! So what have the council done over the years to try and alleviate the problem? Absolutely nothing. In fact, they made it worse by road narrowing schemes, speed bumps, bus lanes, etc. Instead of trying to adapt the roads to cope with the increase, the council have slowed down the traffic by the implementation of 'calming schemes'. Now, having been awarded £3bn from the government, the council has the chance to get traffic flowing properly again, but will instead further restrict the flow of traffic with the congestion charge and add insult to incompetence by patronisingly telling motorists there will be an improvement.The money should be used to remove all the obstructions that are on the roads. In addition, there are many pavements that are vastly underused now due to the increase in cars. These should be narrowed wherever possible to allow for road widening. Traffic lights should be removed from all road junctions and replaced by roundabouts. Will any of this happen? Not a chance mate!Vincent Marcroft, Manchester

Vincent Marcroft, Manchester

Why deregulated buses are better

ROY Wilkes (Postbag, June 13) believes deregulation of passenger transport has been a disaster. I used to believe that too, but having looked at the facts, I've realised I was wrong.Our transport system isn't perfect, but compared to London's, which is regulated and propped up with huge tax revenues, it delivers better value.In an open bus system, operators have to find out where buses are needed and provide them, otherwise they go out of business. That keeps the system responsive and efficient.When buses are controlled by politicians you often end up with buses that are either empty or over capacity, which makes the system inefficient and then leads to increased fares and tax subsidy.That is one of the reasons you can pick up a monthly System One bus and train ticket for £85 in Manchester, but a monthly all-zone bus, train and tube ticket in London will set you back £249.60, even though London receives much more subsidy and already has a congestion charge.Paul Lockett, Sale

Paul Lockett, Sale