The fact that the Ledbury Poetry Festival town party is not to go ahead this year (Ledbury Reporter, May 13) due to police control of the granting of an alcohol licence is an outrage.

The town party has been a successful and much-enjoyed event for several years. The number of drink-related problems associated with it has, to my knowledge, been no more than those on an average Saturday night in our town, when the police are generally notable by their absence.

I have written to Inspector Sue Thomas to voice my dissatisfaction at this state of affairs and would urge others to do the same. They should also write to our newly re-elected MP Bill Wiggin.

I am not a drunken yob. I'm just a middle-aged family man who wants to enjoy a town get-together and have a pint at the same time. I have seen many similar law-abiding citizens at previous town parties doing just that.

The Poetry Festival is a good thing and the town party, as part of it, was also a good thing. Do we now live in a police state where the local police inspector decides what we can and can't do based solely on their fear of possible trouble? This is simply not acceptable.

Derek Phillips, Bank Crescent, Ledbury.