SIR - Back in March the EU Council of Ministers decided to phase out the light bulbs we have been using for years and force us to use high energy bulbs.

The Labour Government has now announced that this change will start from January.

To understand how stupid and costly this is going to be for us the Government itself recognised last year that only 50 per cent of the light fittings in this country can take high energy bulbs.

You cannot use them in microwaves, ovens, freezers, security lights or any enclosed light fitting.

It is estimated that householders will have to spend some £3 billion to replace 60 million light fittings.

These new bulbs are bigger, heavier, uglier, far more expensive and give a poorer quality of light.

They flicker 50 times a second and create a strobe effect which makes fast moving machine parts appear stationary so will be a safety hazard.

They use 10 times as much energy to make than ordinary light bulbs and they contain mercury vapour which means it is very difficult to recycle them.

To maximise their efficiency you have to keep them on all the time.

To sum up, this is a crackpot decision and was decided on a whim by a group of politicians who almost certainly didn't understand the implications. No consultation has taken place and yet again our elected MPs are not able to alter the decision since the EU now decides the rules and regulations by which we live.

No wonder we want a referendum on our future relationship with this undemocratic EU.

MARK STARR, Leigh Sinton.