I WOULD like to thank the long-suffering residents of The Groves for having allowed me to use their neighbourhood as a rat run for the past 30 years.

It’s time they got their streets back.

City of York Council are to be congratulated on this trial and it is to be hoped that its success will lead to its permanent adoption.

Likewise, the restrictions on vehicular access to the city centre due to the current crisis are to be welcomed. Let’s hope that these, too, will become long-term measures.

In recent weeks York has enjoyed the cleanest air for two thousand years. Sadly the rank odour of diesel fumes is already creeping back.

The administration at the council deserves every support in its initiatives and bids for funding to create not only a better balance between car and city but also the clean air that its citizens deserve.

Edward Waterson,

St Marys, York