IN answer to the letter about the expense of Jorvik (February 4), I have a few American friends and I'm always ribbing them about them whining about the cost of fuel and, as a result, they have told me several things.

Their minimum wage is half that of ours and their average wage is less than ours too. For the average house price here you could get a fantastic home in America.

People in West Virginia are more poor than people in our poorest areas. More than 40 million Americans cannot afford basic health insurance.

We are often told that America is the land of opportunity. It may well be. But, as with all nations who appear to be rich, only a very small percentage are actually well off, and, let's not forget, the pound is doing very well against the dollar. Last year I met two of these friends in York. They wanted to see the typical English pub I always told them about, so I took them for a beer. Then I took then for fish and chips, which they enjoyed immensely.

It cost me about £15, probably a little more, to entertain my friends, which is nothing really to most of us here, but when they worked out how much I'd spent on them they were horrified, and they live in California, richer than most states. The people you saw may well have been American by my experience but, not having been to Jorvik for years, I couldn't say if the price is too high.

W Elliott,

Kinbrace Road,

Hartlepool.

Updated: 11:25 Saturday, February 11, 2006