SIR - In reply to I want a policeman on every corner' (Letters, April 11), Joyce Rose is so right about our funding the police.

The Government has just announced it is paying out £30 million to fund inspectors to enforce the new anti-smoking laws, while our council taxes increase every year to pay for policemen and women who seem to spend most of their time doing paperwork or driving around in cars to cover ridiculously large beat areas.

It's all very well this Government making new laws to combat increasing violent crime and issuing Asbos, but if the police do not have the manpower on the beat to enforce the law it's all such a waste of time and money.

As Joyce Rose says, we need a policeman (not a community support officer) on every corner.

I am old enough to remember when a policeman on his beat (on foot) was within a couple of blasts of his whistle distance from his colleagues, so assistance and attendance to an incident was very quick. The high presence of police officers also played a major part in controlling crime and catching criminals.

Tony Eaves, Martin Hussingtree.