I WRITE in reply to the letter by the 'concerned citizen' published in your 15 July edition.

I know exactly what he/she means and have to agree. I find it alarming that in a supposedly democratic and free country, this sort of thing is all too common and would think the police had better things to do. However when you are stopped in your car for the umpteenth time, for 'routine checks' or stopped and searched because you dare to walk down the road after 11pm it makes you wonder. Is there a secret curfew nobody has told us about? Are the police employed to tackle crime? It would appear their only true talent is for making life difficult. A killjoy force with far too much power and a flair for intimidation. The introduction of CCTV is another intrusion into out lives and we are getting closer to the 'big brother' era we should all dread. Books. TV, movies and even music are regularly censored and even banned. Not so long ago beef was on the list. Maybe it's unsafe but it was for us to decide whether to eat it or not. We're capable of making our decisions and take away our right to makes these decisions. England a free country? Don't be silly.

A concerned citizen.

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