WHAT a sad, yet confusing state of affairs.

Unlike claims by those taking direct action, over fuel costs, that the country is 100 per cent behind them, I, no doubt like most people, am stuck somewhere in the middle, physically and emotionally.

Just as it is wrong for the Government to have allowed this crisis to escalate, so it is wrong for those taking action to presume that a majority backs the way they have brought our country to its knees and brought distress to many people.

Children unable to attend new school terms, elderly and ill people wondering where their care will come from, vicars unable to marry people or bury the dead, patients with suspected cancers having diagnostic operations postponed. The effects are and will continue to be beyond those imagined originally.

High fuel costs do not only affect those demonstrating, but most people in one way or another. Therefore, I agree that Tony Blair must not just listen, but act.

Nurses, disabled people, students, company representatives and mums taking children to school, to name but a few, are 'normal' people trying to get on with their lives and take care of their families and those around them. Money wasted on such attractions as the Dome would be better spent providing more efficient car-sharing schemes, cycling incentives and public transport that at present is expensive, and unreliable.

This recent action shows we are too dependent on cars and fuel for our own good and that of our environment. In 20 to 30 years, along with past generations, we will be answerable to future generations for the effects that such fuel consumption has on our environment and the lives of our children's children.

As an ordinary member of the public, it is reassuring for me personally to have friends who rally round and help and a knowledge that my faith lies in a higher power, that doesn't need petrol.

D CUNLIFFE (Mrs), The Evergreens, Blackburn.