IT would be nice to think we had left the days of crude, vicious homophobia behind us. After all, this is the 21st century. It seems not.

A gay couple from Hemingbrough have been sent an abusive, handwritten letter warning them in the most crude language to leave the village or be 'run out'.

"This is a respectable village," the anonymous letter says. "We do not want a load of gays coming and going day and night."

Nobody in this day and age should be subjected to such bigotry. It is all the worse because Justin Heaven, 38, and his partner Robert have only recently moved into their new home. They have now contacted the police, and have also posted the letter on Facebook.

Mr Heaven said Hemingbrough was a lovely village and local people had been very supportive. "But it was a little upsetting when our parents found out," he said.

It was the anonymous nature of the letter that was most depressing, he added. "I would rather someone knocked on the door and spoke to me rather than sending a letter in a cowardly way."

We are glad to see that since the letter was posted online, the couple have been inundated with messages of support – from Hemingbrough itself and all over the world.

Not in our name, one message from a local said, adding: "My family are shocked and disgusted by this letter and appalled that it has been written as if it were expressing the views of our village."

Ironically, on the day we report this example of old-fashioned prejudice, details of York's 2015 Gay Pride festival have just been announced.

Let us hope that this colourful event can help to dispel the remaining pockets of homophobic ignorance and bigotry that still clearly exist.