ACCORDING to CAMRA, thousands of public houses have closed during last year, never to reopen. Over the New Year the reason for this became obvious: a combination of greed and incompetence.

In one extremely busy establishment, family controlled for years, offering excellent service, courtesy and friendliness, a pint of 3.8 volume beer cost £2.40.

In another, near-empty pub owned by a national company, the welcome was surly, the staff untrained, the place dirty – and beer of the same gravity cost £3.80 per pint.

Here certainly was another candidate for imminent closure, and rightly so.

Peter Rickaby, West Park, Selby.