ON Monday, November 14, my son and I visited York for a day out, mainly to do some shopping and take photographs of the interior of York Minster.

On arrival at York railway station my son and I got into a taxi and I asked the driver to take us to the Minster.

The driver almost shouted in reply, "What, York Minster?" "Yes", I replied, "York Minster".

I could tell from the look on the driver's face that this was not his favourite request.

We were in for a rough ride - plenty of erratic swerving, fast driving and hard braking as this driver was venting his frustrations on the fare-paying passengers.

What he didn't realise was that the fare-paying passenger was 78 years old and suffering from angina. Not only that, but he had had to ask his son to accompany him on this trip to help carry a very heavy camera and an even heavier tripod.

I don't think the driver would have been too concerned with this knowledge anyway. The atmosphere in the taxi was silent and very cold.

On a previous visit to York in 2004, my son and I had a similar experience getting into a taxi and asking for York Minster. On that occasion the driver kept shaking his head and giving out little snorts and grunts on the way to our destination.

I can appreciate that taxi drivers may be asked on thousands of occasions to make the trip to York Minster as it is the most popular tourist attraction, but hey, not everyone coming out of York railway station wants taking to Newcastle or Birmingham.

I believe that my treatment by this driver was ignorant and insensitive.

Mr W Redford,

Lumsdale Road,

Middlecroft,

Staveley, Chesterfield.

Updated: 10:22 Wednesday, November 23, 2005