COUNCILLOR Anna Semlyen states (Letters, December 6) that 20mph limits are safer, quieter and less polluting.

Less polluting? Nonsense. Any modern car needs to be in third gear to achieve 20mph.

This will mean the engine using far more fuel than doing 30mph in top gear.

Inescapable fact – so how is this less polluting?

I do not dispute 20mph limits are safer. I’m not opposed to them and would support them.

However, it is time the protagonists stopped using spurious arguments.

Personally, I think before we go to 20mph it’s time we had more police presence and speed cameras to enforce the 30mph limits. There’s some more wishful thinking.

C Brian Ledger, Horseman Close, Copmanthorpe, York.