SIR – I tend to agree with William Statham of Bewdley (Worcester News, March 9) that there are insufficient people interested for Worcester City FC to afford a new ground. His estimate that City had gates averaging 1,000 in the last days of The Lane is wishful thinking as your press reports were more like 150, and I, living near and seeing spectators arriving in small numbers, would agree.
Worcester have a long history, stretching well over 100 years, but today things have changed with the advent of motor cars and the M5 motorway allowing people to travel easily to see Premier football etc in Birmingham and elsewhere. Soccer has become highly competitive and commercialised. Even the likes of Manchester United find the money side difficult with players’ wages so obscene and transfer fees unbelievable.
I am afraid that Worcester will follow clubs like Bromsgrove, Hereford and Kidderminster unless they can find a benefactor like Cecil Duckworth who has put Worcester Warriors on the rugby map. Even in their case money hasn’t guaranteed success as results have shown.
As William Statham says it would seem that it is a very small minority who are prepared to back Worcester City when the chocks are down, and thus I feel they are living only in a pipe dream, as the money realised for the old ground has only gone to pay off the large overdraft.
PHIL PEGLER
Worcester

Media bias over the EU?
SIR – It was interesting to read in a letter to the press by the chairman of the Campaign for an Independent Britain entitled Media Bias how the news concerning the Common Market was presented. 
In a BBC programme 25 years later one of the presenters, Jack de Manio, did not toe the line. He was sacked and BBC programmes have been overwhelmingly Europhile ever since.
It seemed that the Foreign Office existed to represent our country abroad but when it comes to the EU it represents that foreign power to us.
The BBC is probably so well trained by now like Pavlov’s dog but as Lord Tebbitt famously commented: “It’s called the Foreign Office because it works for foreigners”. 
Cynically and as a former employee shame on Auntie, but at least we are aware of it.
Wendy Hands
Upton-upon-Severn


Solar best for green energy
SIR – I always enjoy John Phillpott’s column on a Saturday and would like to raise two points.
His remarks regarding the dredging of the Severn were factually incorrect. He stated that the river was dredged as far as Diglis. In fact in order to facilitate safe passage for the oil barges that used the river to get to Stourport the dredging went up that far. As we are roughly the same age he may well be unaware of this as he was growing up in Warwickshire at the time.
However I am in total agreement with him regarding wind farms. Surely the less damaging way of producing green energy is solar power and by this I don’t propose covering the countryside in solar farms. Just imagine that every roof space in the country had solar panels, that equates to many millions of solar panels. In my view it merits close examination.
Clive Smith
Malvern

Where is our cash going?
SIR – It has been widely noticed  that some countries that we give aid to are corrupt. Now an audit has revealed that last year we paid £225 million to Nigeria, and that 23,846 so called “ghost workers” there were being paid a salary but didn’t have a job. Others were being paid several times over.
Some 40 per cent of all Nigerian government spending goes on personnel costs. Nigeria has its own space programme, and has spent millions buying three satellites which are now in orbit.
Surely the time has come to end this madness, the British taxpayer is being laughed at and made a fool of.
B ELLIS
Leominster


Dog’s death unnecessary
SIR – I was saddened and shocked about the foxhound which was run down in Wales. 
I am writing this letter to let people know how the police get it wrong most of the time. The story was that a foxhound got loose onto the dual carriageway in Wales. The police were trying to catch it in their car. 
The poor animal was running for its life in and out of traffic. The police phoned the station and asked what to do.
The officer on the phone gave orders to run it down. 
What a wicked thing to do.
If they had stopped the traffic it would have been the right thing to do.
If we hit an animal the police are called I believe and they want to know how the animal was hit. However, it’s okay for the police to run a poor defenceless animal down. 
I hope the officers are proud of what they did that day. Their actions were unnecessary. Shame on you for what you did.
CAROLE ROBERTS
Worcester