Dear Prince Charles, I have the greatest respect for you as our future king and as a passionate environmentalist.

However, after your helicopter trip from Highgrove to Cambridge University and back, it’s time to don a hair shirt.

Your trip reportedly emitted 12.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide which, we are told, was off-set. Very sorry, Sir, but offsetting is simply a device for salving one’s conscience.

You are a leader and must lead by only using transport which emits zero carbon dioxide.

Scrap the helicopter and buy an all-electric car. There are plenty with a range over 250 miles. Topped up in Cambridge, you wouldn’t have run out of juice on the way home.

To gain maximum publicity for our shared beliefs about climate change; paint it green and name it POWER – Prince of Wales Electric Runabout.

Quentin Macdonald,

Manor Farm,

Church Lane,

Nether Poppleton, York