Market should stay

SIR - It is sad, disappointing and depressing that the North Herts District Council has granted planning permission for the destruction of the Market Hall in Letchworth.

This market has one of the few master butchers left where not only high quality and traditional cuts of meat can be bought at reasonable prices, but where you can talk to a butcher who understands meat - as opposed to the bland meat sold by girls and youths who have no interest or knowledge at all, in most supermarkets.

There is a fine greengrocer who sells fresh produce at a fraction of the price of the supermarkets and an adjacent shop where the best and cheapest oriental spices and produce can be found, an excellent shop for the disabled to purchase essential commodities and one of the best, if not only, shops for loose fabrics.

With the tragic loss of the central Post Office, Letchworth is declining into another of these nondescript towns where all the shops belong to the same multiples and the intrinsic character is lost forever.

I have nothing against Argos, who provide an excellent service to its customers, but this is another example of the multiple stores suffocating the small shopkeeper to the detriment of us all, ably supported by the local authorities. In this case, all the more shame from an authority which boasts about preserving the traditional heritage, values and culture.

Before the council pronounces the death sentence on the livelihood of these small shopkeepers, it should provide alternative accommodation for them at comparable rents.

BOB JONES

Baldock

SIR - I see the council vote to close Letchworth market was four in favour, two against and five abstaining.

Do the five really feel they are representing the voters, or are they just turning up for the money?

Argos belongs where Sainsbury's etc are, but not in the middle of town. I feel sorry for the traders in the market; they should not be turfed out in this way. I am disgusted.

E.WHITE

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