I write regarding the city centre’s new bollard defences (Two streets in York city centre close as anti-terror bollard work continues, June 19).

The point needs to be made that this installation of bollards is not a one-off cost but a recurring cost over a 10-20 year period unless technology radically changes. Once central government has part funded the initial installation, we the York council tax payers will be fully responsible for ongoing software and maintenance upkeep and renewal.

I just hope the ‘City Fathers’ on City of York Council have fully evaluated all the long term implications. My view is the government would save many more lives or extend many more York citizens lives if the £3.5million investment had been directed to cancer patient scanning and treatment technology at York Hospital.

These bollards are an expensive luxury for a one-off terrorist event - and they are not 100 per cent foolproof even then.

The damage to York’s historical heritage is also not worth the long term price. We fought off the IRA terror attacks in the 1970\80s without major loss of life in York or Leeds.

Malcolm I Joyce, Fairfax Street, Bishophill