It is a sad truth that those of us who hail from less pleasant parts of Britain, in my case Whitechapel:

Get out at the first opportunity when we have the cash

Fervently, and illogically, defend our roots, frequently with mindless violence, while under the influence; and

Do our best to picture our own particular piece of hell as some kind of garden of Eden.

So I was mystified why several of the interviewees in Chris Titley's article (Yorkshire? Now you're talking!, August 1) saw fit to defend beautiful York and North Yorkshire by mostly disparaging other parts of the country.

I counted at least three groups of fellow citizens who caught the proverbial packet: southerners, Lancastrians, and Geordies.

Are some Yorkshire Tykes so insecure in their identity the only way they can justify their roots in this lovely county is by belittling everybody else's heritage? All this does is reinforce the already-unjust stereotypes that Yorkshire natives are narrow-minded, big-mouthed, drunken bigots.

I am married to a Yorkshire woman who makes a nonsense of this stereotype.

She is the total opposite (lively, intelligent, world visioned and tolerant. During the 13 years I have lived in York I have met big-hearted and pea-brained locals.

Yorkshire men and women should rejoice in their county and emphasise its many pluses, be grateful for their heritage and with their big hearts make a nonsense of the Monty Python sketch which pictures northerners as big- mouthed idiots.

Graham Horne,

Beech Avenue,

Bishopthorpe,

York.

Updated: 11:11 Wednesday, August 06, 2003