THE Ledbury by-pass was designed to connect all the roads leading into the town, eliminating the necessity for any through traffic.

In its present truncated form, however, it does not represent value for the money already spent and it is regrettable, if understandable, that objections should now be raised to completing the links to the Bromyard and Worcester roads.

It is easy to exaggerate the environmental impact of completing the final sections, which will of course be two-lane single carriageways.

The little-remembered A449 improvement between Chance's Pitch and British Camp is of arguably greater visual impact, but I doubt whether any environmentalist passions were aroused at the time and it is now accepted without a second thought as part of the scenery.

A recent correspondent refers to the railway viaduct. I doubt whether the engineers who designed it and supervised its construction would understand why anyone should object to a road being driven between its piers. The Victorians had a more robust outlook on such matters, and it is ironic that this and many other fine structures would probably never have been built if today's environmentalist lobby had existed at the time.

J HUGGINS, Parkside, Upperfields, Ledbury.