Mr Wilson of Hunters Way castigated City of York Council (Letters, September 13) for closing Lendal Bridge immediately before the truck driver's fuel blockade of the outer ring road.

This, he claims, has doubled the misery of the beleaguered motorist. The council's crystal ball must have broken down. Oh dear!

Plans for the bridge work have undergone months of preparation.

If the council were to suspend it because of the unexpected fuel crisis, then it would have to shell out thousands of pounds in penalty clause payments to the contractors who are undertaking the work.

This would ultimately rebound on council tax payers.

No thank you.

Mr. Wilson lives some two miles from the city centre. If he is reasonably fit, or wants to become so, he should consider taking Norman Tebbit's well-known advice instead of adding to traffic congestion.

Paul F. Hepworth.

Windmill Rise, York.