'Travellers parking fees'

SIR - I would be very interested to know if the travellers parked on Homebase were paying to do so. If not why not,also the ones that were parked for a considerable time on Dolday.

Plus the fact the caravans take up more than one space.I know for certain if it was me or any other member of the public we would be fined quicker than you can say pay up. A question I shall never get the answer to no doubt,well not a truthful one anyway.

Mrs Von Milne

Worcester

'Government with no regard'

SIR - In response to the Grenfell tower fire, Thomas Clark wrote on his hugely popular blog ‘Another Angry Voice’: ‘The divisive rich-first agenda has been all too evident since the banksters were bailed out with public cash after they gambled themselves into insolvency, then the Tories came to power and set about extracting the cost of the crisis from the poor and ordinary in order to lavish even more giveaways on the corporations and the mega-rich.’ People may react to such a statement by saying that such an awful tragedy should not be politicised.

I would say that politics is about priorities. Housing and council funding are political.

Look at Worcester City Council, which receives a large proportion of its funding from the government: the central government grant will have been reduced by 47% by 2019. Like many others across the country, I have been complaining about austerity for seven years.

Many people have suffered because politicians have not considered them to be a priority.

The government’s scandalous disregard for the people they are meant to represent has been horrifically symbolised by the Grenfell tower fire.

Neil Laurenson

Worcester Green Party

'Back Greens against HS2'

SIR - Susan Thomas is correct to criticise the Tories for their support of the High Speed Train project, commonly known as HS2 (Vote Lab, Scrap HST).

She’s also correct that the money earmarked for this “vanity project” would be better spent on the NHS, schools, the police etc.

However, the HS2 wouldn’t just be a huge waste of finances, it also poses an enormous threat to the natural environment and the wildlife that inhabits it.

According to an Independent On Sunday investigation “more than 350 wildlife sites, including nature reserves, ancient woodlands and wetlands which are home to some of Britain’s rarest species, are threatened by the high-speed rail link” and “among the sites that could be directly damaged or indirectly affected are a national nature reserve, 10 county wildlife trust reserves, about 50 ancient woods, 30 river corridors, 24 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and hundreds of other wildlife habitats”.

Although Labour Party policies, in general, are better than those of the Tories in terms of protecting nature, the Greens are the only parliamentary party that opposes HS2, which Labour also supports.

Bella Ryan

Malvern

'Save cattle, go vegan'

SIR - According to Richard Heath, secretary at the Hanbury Countryside Show: “It’s going to be pretty exciting......to see who is our first Three Shires Cattle Trophy Triple Crown winner” (Deadline looming for cattle entries, WN).

Probably not quite so exciting for the cattle themselves though, when the competition is over!

That’s because 2.5 million cattle are put to death in the UK every year, with the vast majority being killed as very young animals at less than one tenth of their natural lifespan.

All so horrifically unnecessary, as there is no need for any animals to be reared and slaughtered for human consumption.

We can live perfectly well on a vegan diet free from animal products, which would also benefit the environment and our own health, and, thankfully, more and more people are beginning to realise this and changing their eating habits accordingly.

Anyone interested in adopting a more humane diet and lifestyle can find plenty of information on the Vegan Society’s website at www.vegansociety.com.

Hector Roux

Kidderminster

'God Bless all the helpers'

SIR - A big thank you to all who helped my sister who became unwell in Pershore on a very hot day.

The Bus driver who offered first Aid and called the ambulance, kept us informed and reassured her. The people who offered a pillow and water.

The Paramedics, so cheerful and professional and even took her home. The neighbours who on her return quickly came to offer support.. How heartwarming to know that our community in Worcestershire continues to be caring,compassionate and concerned.

God bless you all.

Mrs Diana Thomas

Worcester

'Dog picture appalled me'

SIR - I have gone no further than the front page of today’s (Saturday, June 17) edition. I am utterly appalled that you have chosen to print the picture (albeit slightly blurred) of this poor dog.

Why you felt the need to show this I have no idea but it is shameful of you. The distress this will cause is unimaginable.

I have been having the Worcester News from you for a very long time and have never felt the need to write to you before but this has truly upset me.

Carol Chambers

Worcester

* Editor's note: We apologise for any distress caused. The picture was supplied by the RSPCA and we need to balance our duty to report the facts of crimes such as this, which do cause outrage, against the sensitivities of our readers. We believe the reportage was in the wider public interest.

'Enquiry can be quick'

SIR - In her letter (WN 21/6) Wendy Hands expressed concern regarding how long a public enquiry would take regarding the tragic fire in the London tower block last week.

Of course it is right to be concerned but over the years major enquiries into disasters on this scale have been relatively swift. ie. Aberfan reported the following August after the event occurred in October 1966. The ferry disaster in Zebrugge and the enquiry into the Kings Cross fire were also equally expeditious.

Without wishing to pre-empt any conclusions this event should also be straightforward. From my time in local government this seems to be a clear failure of the building regulations procedures.   Like everyone else my thoughts and prayers are with those affected.

Clive Smith

Malvern

'Where the aid should go'

SIR - Even though any amount is grateful, it surely is a miserly amount (£5 million) to offer the survivors of the Grenfell tower disaster.

Compare this to the £13billion we give in foreign aid, yet a vast amount of this go to corrupt regimes, or tin pot ideas.

Aid, is for those that need  it it, wherever, not giving it away to whoever wants it as we have to.

At least 10 times the £5m, offered should have been made available,  and that is nowhere near enough, and a few  billion more to add sprinklers to all those tower blocks that have not been fitted with them,and to install  proper fire escapes and more safe, suitable cladding.

B Ellis

Leominster

'Outsourced to Wales'

Sir - I am writing to explain my situation with my position waiting for endoscopy on my bowel. I have been waiting since Feburary for this procedure .

I had a letter from NHS acute unit Worcester to ask if I would be willing to travel to St Joesphs private clinic in Newport South Wales which I find to be very unfair but have no choice if I need the scan.

I find it strange that due to the fact that if Worcester hospital cannot  do this procedure and need to outsource why has it got to be so far as surely we have private hospitals than closer than South Wales and they will provide transport but how much is this costing .

I thought it right to bring this to your attention as is it happening to others, which I bet it is.

Mike Hemming

Worcester