NOT long ago in York, eyebrows were raised about the gaudy appearance of the Ball shoe shop frontage in Pavement. Some critics went as far as to suggest that it seemed as if a small chunk of Blackpool had broken off and attached itself there.

On another occasion a number of people were moved to wax somewhat gnomic over the poses of certain garden figures to be found outside premises in Goodramgate.

Yet so far no one has given vent to a murmur about the latest tacky offering to hit town - Warrington's Winter Wonderland, a Christmas-type funfair currently installed at the top end of Parliament Street.

I suggest the only cause for 'wonder' to be attached to this outfit is the question why, year after year, they are allowed to literally fence off a prime chunk of the city centre from mid-November until New Year's Eve to purvey their tawdry seasonal amusements? The billboards inform us that this 'entertainment' (and I use the word advisedly) is sanctioned by, and presented in conjunction with, City of York Council. Are they so contemptuous of this city and its people that they do not believe them worthy of something more tasteful than a collection of circus sideshows?

Who benefits from these anyway? The children who ride on them, and their parents who may thus enjoy a peaceful half hour, perhaps. The whole set up would be more acceptable in its present form if a proportion of the cash raised could be donated to local charities.

Otherwise this spectacle is likely to be seen as yet another example of the crass commercialism we have come to expect at this time of year. and that is the kind of humbug we can well do without.

Dr K Davis,

Mason's Court,

Cockermouth, Cumbria.

Updated: 10:25 Tuesday, November 27, 2001