I refer to the article about Gary Verity (The man who made Yorkshire sexy, February 28) and your editorial of the same day.

Unfortunately, we have allowed utterances such as “sexy” to be applied to many inanimate objects, “our DNA” to be applied to events and “national treasures” to any minor celebrity that makes some inane utterance.

Yorkshire is many things, but it is not and never will be sexy.

A bunch of cyclists in lycra blocking up our roads and causing mayhem is not part of our DNA, it is French – the clue is in the name.

And Mr Verity may be a totally nice person but he is definitely not a national treasure.

And precisely what is wrong with being associated with the mining industry?

Now where is my flat cap and the whippet needs a walk!

Keith Isaac, Byron Drive, York.