Sir - As a regular reader of the Worcester News - despite the occasional typo or forgivable error the standard of stories, articles and features is still commendably high - even despite your persistence in continue to publish Mr Philpott's rabid and frequently offensive fulminations - and of course your baffling insistence on giving perhaps his only ally George Cowley regular column-space with his pointless and inconsequential drivel.

However, I spotted this Saturday that a reporter reviewed a lunch he'd had in The Crown in Crown Passage for the 'Weekend/Taste' feature - now the article itself was fairly bland and neutral in its tone - well what would you expect from reviewing part of the massive Wetherspoon chain? But what leapt out at the page for me was the use of the abominable 'would of' phrase (instead of 'would have') - I dare say many of your readers may not have noticed this - obviously your proof reader didn't...

This is totally unacceptable - every day we're deluged with illiterate postings confusing their/there/they're - and this I guess is the second most common grammatical inaccuracy - dear God you even hear what you previously thought were half-respectably-educated people on TV and radio saying it! This trend to tolerate and not correct these blatant errors is I feel a damning indictment of the current state educational system.

Perhaps we can look forward to your future articles and reports being regularly punctuated with plenty of oh-my-gawds, innits and know-what-I-means as you gradually but surely lower your editorial standards towards the lowest common denominator...

Andy O'Hare

Worcester