SIR: I refer to your recent news item about the ruling on gypsies. The ruling described in the story is the most stupid I have ever read.

The "traditional lifestyle" of travellers was that they were in the main honest, honourable people who wanted to roam our country and who were not too much trouble to anyone provided that their pegs and lucky heather were purchased.

Today's people are dirty, rude, foul-mouthed trespassers who despite not working manage to acquire new, large, expensive caravans which are pulled by even newer, larger and more expensive cars both of which are obtained by uncertain means.

The land they camp on is private in as much as we the ratepayers of Bolton own it. Now if the 'new age travellers' would like to break the habit of THEIR lifetime and pay something, if only towards clearing the site of disgusting waste it would be different, but they won't.

Finally, the European Commission of Human Rights seem to have overlooked the glaring difference between June Buckley and the rest. She owns her land - others don't. They are trespassers who should be handled accordingly. It would, of course, help if they moved closer than 15 miles from John Major. Maybe then proper laws would be passed to help councils to act.

D.M. Cobley

Breightmet

Bolton

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.