AS one of Droitwich's Christian ministers, can I appeal to those who are, apparently, giving Pam Johnson a hard time, to leave her alone.

Ms Johnson, like every citizen, is entitled to freedom from harassment and abuse.

Conduct of the kind described is inexcusable and people who do such things should be ashamed of themselves. But if she and her friends wish to avoid ridicule and abuse, perhaps they should be a little less anxious to talk to impressionable children about their beliefs.

They are, of course, entitled to call themselves pagans, druids, grand imperial wizards or whatever they want; it is, after all, a free country. But the claim that they (or anyone else) are somehow the heirs of ancient paganism or druidism is frankly ridiculous.

Scholars have shown conclusively that the modern cults which call themselves by these names were invented in the last century. Real ancient pagans sacrificed animals (and in the case of druids, human beings) to the gods; that was the centre of their religion.

I suppose Ms Johnson and her friends would, like most of us, recoil in horror from that practice. It died out 1,600 years with the coming of Christianity and nobody is, I hope, planning to reinstate it. Therefore, there are no real pagans or druids around now, thankfully.

Mrs Tildesley, of West-lands First School, showed excellent judgement in refusing a platform to someone who would want to instill superstitious and fantastic beliefs in healing crystals and the power of spells into young minds.

The Rev Peter Hatton, (Methodist church),

Corbett Street,

Droitwich.