WHO does June Nelsey thinks she is kidding ('Stop moaning about Ascot', Letters, March 16)?

I am sure many York residents, such my wife and I, could not care less if the silly hats and snobbery of Royal Ascot were sent to the North Pole to stage the event.

Can she, or anyone else, tell me how pensioners such as us will get any benefit from this wonderful occasion? Will it reduce the council tax or make parking easier and cheaper?

The people she condemns are correct in what they say.

The big winners, apart from the bookmakers, will be the hoteliers.

Who is going to pay for the extra policing, litter clearing and all the other public services which will be stretched to the limit?

I cannot criticise the hoteliers for making profit. They are in business to make as much money as they can, otherwise they would be failing in their duty to shareholders.

I do not see how switching a few days racing to York can have much effect on the rest of the world.

If June Nelsey wants the world to know about her establishment why doesn't she put her hand in her purse and advertise abroad?

WT Smith,

Gorse Hill,

Dunnington, York.

Updated: 09:37 Tuesday, March 22, 2005