Mick it is about time you desist from your continued, bombastic and inacurate comments on matters that have no impact on your life.

The Park and Ride scheme is not in operation "in Chester Road" but is a scheme to assist hospital staff with getting to work, though due to its infrequent running, staff will continue to drive there.

"Major rerouting" (plans) are not along but away from Ormonde Street (this will force traffic along minor roads in order to avoid the restrictions).

The real culprits in this fiasco are not "moaning minnies who bought houses in streets around the hospital" but are Sunderland Council and the hospital, who decided to move all hospital facilities on to the hospital site in order to free up space for housing (I suspect money was the major issue). As a result we have lost several hospital sites including Havelock, Grindon, Ryhope, the Children's Hospital and Sunderland Royal Infirmary, with its own excellent accident and emergency facilities.

You have the right to drive on a public highway but no absolute right to park on it.

Philip Smith,
A resident of Barnes for 37 Years

Ruined this village
ONE HUNDRED police officers, dozens of cars and the police helicopter raided West Rainton Travellers' site last Friday.

Washington Residents are often in the Echo complaining about illegal gypsy sites and the filth that is left once they are gone. The Daily Mirror reported that two travellers in London killed a man who tried to stop them stealing his car stereo.

Is it any wonder that people in Boldon get upset when officials overrule local people's wishes and decide to grant permission for numerous travellers' caravans to be located on green belt – permission that you or I would be (quite rightly) refused.

The site in Rainton has ruined this village and school. They daren't speak out of fear of violence.

The local police stay professional but they know the trouble caused hereabouts from the site, but when the police ask for the travellers' help they get no help.
RJ Smith,
West Rainton

Raid long overdue
I AM so happy that the travellers' site in West Rainton was raided by police last Friday.

If they want to be travellers, why don't they travel and move away, far, far away from honest, hard-working families of West Rainton?

The travellers drive expensive cars, wear designer clothes, drive too fast and are a blot on our lovely village. I think the police raid was excellent and long overdue.
Name and Address Supplied

Wards are dirtier
NURSES have called for hospital cleaning to be brought back in-house to tackle hospital infections.

The Royal College of Nursing conference overwhelmingly voted for a motion proposing an end to contracting out cleaning to private firms.

Cleaning contracts have been outsourced since the 1980s and about 40 per cent of hospitals now use the private sector. Nurses at the Bournemouth conference said it had led to a drop in standards and a rise in infections. Nurses maintained infection was a pressing issue that was not being helped by the contracting out of cleaning, something which has been particularly popular in England.

There has been an increase in hospital infections and decline in cleanliness. It is quite simple.

Private cleaning firms do not have the public sector ethos of in-house teams and there is higher staff turnover which contributed to poorer performance.

We know what works, we have been there before, we have had them. They are called ward domestics, they are an integral part of the team.
Coun Shirley Leadbitter,
St Peters Ward

We raised £2,472
ON March 9 Pawz for Thought held a collection at the Stadium of Light.
We would like to thank the football club for having us there, the generous people who put money in our collection buckets and the 35 volunteers who gave their time to collect for us. Extra special thanks must go to Mary, Vivien and Paula who put superhuman effort into organising a well-planned and very enjoyable fundraising event.

Every penny raised went to Pawz for Thought. No expenses were incurred by the charity. Thanks also to Lesley at RPC containers for donating the collecting buckets to us and to the chartered accountant who gave his services free.

A fantastic total of £2,472.40 was collected.
Lynne Ebdale,
Pawz For Thought