SIR – In recent weeks I have read of people complaining of idiot car racers blighting their streets, and their battle to make the police respond.

Then I read of the people in Lowesmoor, Worcester, being harassed by the drunks and druggies – and their efforts with meetings at the Guildhall with the police. This makes me think that we have a police farce rather than a police force. In my day, as a policeman, we would identify areas of concern ourselves without waiting for residents to complain. We then dealt with the miscreants and brought them to justice. Sir Benjamin Peel’s four principles were the back-bone of our policing. One of the principles was the prevention of crime and the one that followed was the detection of crime. Something modern police forces have forgotten in their drive for state-of-the-art computers and comfortable chairs. Oh, and it did not take a head of the police force in a posh car to fight crime either. The empire bulding at Hindlip is commensurate with the increase of crime across the region – much of which is now unreported due to lack of interest.

Andrew Hope-Hall
Worcester