A YORK schoolgirl has received a letter from the Queen after she raised concerns about “unacceptable” behaviour in her city.

Zara Ritchie, ten, a pupil at Wigginton Primary School, decided to put pen to paper to outline her worries about living in 21st century Britain.

The youngster has now received a reply from Buckingham Palace with the Queen saying she would be passing on the letter to the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

In her letter to her majesty, Zara wrote: “Dear the Queen. I am writing to you to tell you that in York there are a lot of unacceptable people. Yesterday I went to the shop to buy some fizzy drinks. Then all of a sudden a man walked in and bought a big box of alcohol and sold it to some young people under the age of 16. For young people, the adults and teenagers don’t set a great amount of good examples.”

She said taking short cuts through snickets in York could be “very scary for some children because of teenagers hanging around there and smoking".

Zara went on: “ Going out of our county other people across Great Britain have been doing unacceptable behaviour for their age. I always watch the news. But sadly on the news there is not any better behaviour than I have just mentioned. Gun crimes, kidnapping, murders and much more. It’s horrifying for young children when they watch the news and wonder will that happen to me. I have felt that way before. So thank you for taking the effort to read my letter and I hope someone will do something about the horrors in our world. Thanks again the Queen. Have a good day.”

In the reply from the palace, Sonia Bonici, chief correspondence officer, said :”The Queen has asked me to thank you for your letter, from which Her Majesty has taken careful note of your comments on living in York.

“I should tell you, however, that this is not a matter in which the Queen would personally intervene. Nevertheless, as a constitutional sovereign, Her Majesty acts on advice of her ministers and I have, therefore, been instructed to send your letter to the office of the Prime Minister so that your approach to the Queen and the points you raise may be considered.”

Zara said she was pleased with her response from the palace and added : "I felt very happy, excited and proud to have received a letter from Her Majesty the Queen. I now hope that the Prime Minster will look at my letter and act on my notes.”