ON Saturday, March 9, I was walking towards Parliament Street when I heard an excruciating noise that turned out to be a young man with a guitar howling into a microphone, surrounded by amplifiers.

I escaped the noise by diving into a nearby store, exchanging commiserations with like-minded shoppers. On leaving, ten minutes later, it was still going on so I went home. No doubt a few teenagers enjoyed this council-sponsored event, but was this really the place and the time for it?

Tony Howden,

Common Road,

Dunnington,

York.

Updated: 10:39 Wednesday, March 20, 2002