SIR – The comments regarding Mark Yates and his new vehicle are totally unfair and unwarranted .
Mark came to the county in a time of turmoil and has done a good job in managing the fire service in a period of constraint that is not his making .
It is easy for the Fire Brigades Union to criticise but they have enough skeletons in their cupboards which they don’t want to become public knowledge.
All over the country fire brigades have had to make cuts.Look at Shropshire and Warwickshire and The West Midlands who have all had massive cutbacks.
One fact is clear that there has been a nearly 50 per cent drop in the number of calls over the last 10 years. We still have very good fire service and the comments on your website re not worth reading.
ALAN VERNALLS
Retired fire officer, Hereford and Worcester

Evidence proves that vegan diets are kinder
SIR – Chris Pate is incorrect in his suggestion that adopting a vegan diet would not help to reduce global warming (“How does a vegan diet help global warming?”, Worcester News, January 28).
Research published in 2014 (“Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK”) came to the conclusion that “an average 2,000 kcal high meat diet had 2.5 times as many greenhouse gas emissions than an average 2,000 kcal vegan diet”.
This is in addition to other scientific evidence which indicates that a person who follows a vegan diet produces the equivalent of 50 per cent less carbon dioxide, uses 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to a meat-lover for their food.
So a vegan diet is not only much kinder for other animals, but much kinder for the environment too.
ISOBEL THORPE
Worcester

Save money with performance schemes
SIR – Page 6, Worcester News, February 1: Council is left to hunt for £20 million more savings, Page 8: Watchdog ready to quiz council over use of outside consultants, Doh! Join the dots, councillors. 
Best of all, Tory councillor Andy Roberts said on the subject, “the hiring of outside help can be particularly good for managing change and bringing in specialisms lacking from inside county hall” I am assuming from this that he is referring to the common sense consultant. 
In their hunt for £20 million more savings, I wonder if our councillors have considered not accepting their inflation busting pay rises, or what would save an absolute fortune would be for our Councillors to go on performance related pay scheme.
JOHN MATTHEWS
Worcester

Adopt pets rather than risk an ‘illegal sale’
SIR – I was interested to read your article about Trading Standards warning people buying puppies “to be vigilant for signs of illegal sales”.
So many dogs and cats are “unwanted” or abandoned these days, that rescue centres are unable to accommodate them all, meaning that many thousands end up being “put down” every year.
The main cause of the problem is the excessive breeding of these animals, but members of the public can help prevent this, by only obtaining dogs and cats from rescue centres (rather than from pet shops or breeders) and by making sure they have them neutered or spayed.
So the best advice is to not buy a puppy at all, but to adopt one from a rescue centre, of which there are many.
JANE HARGREAVES
Stourport

No one loves the EU as much as haters hate it
SIR – For sure, one thing about the Brexit Brigade (various recent letters) has become very clear: they do mob-handed rather well. More importantly, they often come across as nothing so much as a religious sect or cult. Daring to cast even a teeny bit of doubt on their claims seems akin to questioning a fundamentalist Christian on the biblical seven-day creation story.
The bottom line in this debate-style, as a knowledgeable commentator has observed, is that no-one loves the EU as much as haters hate it; and the former are driven, perhaps, more by duty than by the zealotry which characterises the latter.
On the other hand, I have doubts; the argument is balanced and nuanced; the EU, as I have written previously, is deeply (but not fatally) flawed; and, on the whole, it might just be sensible to get stuck in and help to make it work better in the interests of all. This has always been my position, but people only read what they wish to read, it seems. It will also bear restatement that I have never – not once – written proactively in favour of the EU; I have simply dared to raise some ambiguities, complexities, broader perspective and occasional points of fact with the zealous antis. It’s been most instructive.
DAVID BARLOW
Worcester

Offering thanks for help after a serious fall
SIR – On Tuesday, January 19, I slipped on a patch of ice, on the corner of Sherrards Green Road, near Dukes Meadow, Malvern, and fractured both wrists.  
May I thank the lady who came to my assistance and helped me home. I did not get her name but her help was invaluable and greatly appreciated.  After a few days at Worcester Royal I am recovering at home with the aid of some excellent home help.
JUDITH GREEN 
Malvern