I READ with confusion your article, "York is a more dangerous city than Birmingham" (May 24).

This headline gives the impression that York is a particularly dangerous city especially since the article was placed under another entitled "Lethal Weapons" about a knife amnesty (I spotted more than a few common kitchen and butter knives in the picture of the haul).

It was only a few paragraphs into the article that we discovered that York is actually 42nd out of 57 cities for crime well down the danger rankings.

York may have its problems but how about a less sensational appraisal of the dangers in this city? Nobody wants to live in a climate of fear.

Peter Sanderson, Wellington Street, York.

Editor's note: The knife haul was that actually produced for us by North Yorkshire Police, who clearly viewed its contents as hazardous. Our headline was based on fact according to the survey. Newspaper headlines are not intended to be read in isolation, but to draw the reader into the story which was an accurate reflection of the figures issued by Reform.