To prove that Julian Cole is talking through his hat (Evening Press, January 27), you only have to refer to Charlotte Percival on the same night to show how necessary correct teaching of grammar is.

In 1997, I was living in Tadcaster. If the UFOs had been 5,000 feet in height, we would have seen them from home. If they were of the usual size and at a height of 5,000 feet from the sea, then we would not have seen them.

K Barnes,

North View, Catterton.

Updated: 11:29 Monday, January 31, 2005