Are taxpayers meeting the bill for alcohol and cigarettes?

IN the supermarket at the end of last week, I spotted young men and women buying cartons of cigarettes at £40-plus and filling their baskets with cans of cider and beer.

Outside the store, they broke open a can of cider, before storing the rest of their purchases under the baby’s pushchair.

How could they afford it? As I drove home later, I saw the same couples entering the social services offices in the town, the prams still loaded with the drink.

From: Barry Foster, Manor Cottages, High Stakesby, Whitby.

How interesting it was to read that Stokesley is to be pestered by yet another big supermarket wanting to destroy a beautiful town just as they are trying to do to Malton and probably many others.

I know I am not alone in thinking we have enough of these places. Councillors and planners ought to realise enough is enough.

It might be worth thinking that by refusing permission to build they are assisting the NHS with the obesity problem.

Having seen some of the contents of the baskets and the quantities people purchase, there is not wonder we have obesity.

The more I see the destruction of our society, the more we have to blame the likes of those responsible for their build.

There must be more to it and we all are aware of just what that is Please save our country towns from this appalling onslaught.

From: H. Marjorie Gill, Clarence Drive, Menston.

THE WI is worried about world food shortage and considering ways of increasing crop growing. I would suggest that they should take their banners and march on the planning authorities to stop house building on green fields.

We are told that there is a serious shortage of housing, but it is no good building houses on land which could produce food.

From: Philip Smith, New Walk, Beverley.

IT is no surprise to me that the big four supermarkets have been reporting smaller profits. My wife and I have done our main shop at Lidl (backed up by Waitrose) for the past 10 years.

Lidl’s fresh fruit and vegetables are second to none, as is their pricing. We estimate to have saved thousands of pounds.

Lidl is so inexpensive because it doesn’t have TV adverts – so we, the customers, are not paying for their huge budgets.