I read, with wry amusement, Megi Rychilkova’s remark that ‘I wish York was in New Zealand’ (column ‘New Zealand sets example’, March 22).

At least some of the people in Christchurch may well wish that they were living in York.

In the past few centuries we have been spared massacres and earthquakes, though we can boast a few good floods.

Having been born and bred in Christchurch I would like to make two points about the mosque massacres that may not be apparent to Britons.

First, 50 people died in a country whose population is 4.9 million.

If the same proportion of the British population were to be killed, the death toll would be nearly 600. That tears a big hole in the psyche of a country.

Second, the Christchurch I knew felt very safe. No one locked their doors.

My parents only locked up the house when we went away on holidays. When one of my grandfathers died, and my grandmother sold the house, the keys were nowhere to be found. But all that is gone for ever.

The city has lost its innocence, and will never be the same again.

David Martin,

Acomb, York