I AM baffled by the insistence that everything must have a name. I refer to the description rat run.

Since when has using a public highway without stopping once been an offence?

If your vehicle is fully legal and you are driving responsibly and correctly, there is no offence or danger caused in taking an alternative route on a public highway.

Car drivers using Straylands Grove or similar roads are doing so entirely legally.

If normal tax-paying motorists are prevented from using such roads, does that road then cease to be a public highway? If so, surely it then becomes private, which presumably will be paid for and maintained by those allowed to use it?

Safety is an issue. But most, if not all, of the complainants who drive will seek alternative routes to avoid the massive tailbacks.

Obviously the safety of all children is paramount. I have three myself and would hate to see any child hurt or worse. I have always tried to buy homes in a cul-de-sac or similar location, not on a thoroughfare.

Closing this road to traffic will only increase the tailbacks elsewhere and the frustration caused to the drivers.

Gary Osguthorpe,

Mansfield Yard,

Southfields Road,

Strensall, York.

Updated: 09:59 Wednesday, December 01, 2004