IN reply to Ms. Boulton's letter about the 'Americanisation' of York with the proposed drive-through McDonald's (April 23), I can offer her no hope of salvation from the planners.

I live in Ripon, a far smaller city than York, and I am afraid that our planners from Harrogate have totally ignored our wishes and have passed planning permission for a drive through McDonald's at the entrance to our city.

It will be within sight of our sign saying 'Welcome to Ripon - stay awhile amidst it's ancient charms'. City planners everywhere seem to totally ignore local concerns about such developments. I wish you well in your struggle against this development. We lost it in Ripon - fight on for Yorkshire!

P Hinton,

Highfield Road,

Ripon.

...ALTHOUGH I am not a patron of the Frog Hall pub, I find it hard to see who will benefit from its replacement by a drive-through fast food outlet.

Not the locals or residents of new houses to be built nearby who already have a range of much more interesting feeding places within walking distance; not drivers into York who are unlikely to negotiate the labyrinthine system of the inner ring road in the search of beefburgers when they can obtain them more easily at existing out-of-town sites. Not students who patronise the town centre pubs, nor people from the suburbs who drive out of town rather than into it if they are hungry for ersatz American comfort food, nor teenagers who are too young to drive there anyway.

As most of the used car dealers are moving out of Layerthorpe, who is left who could possibly want this new feature in our historic city?

It is good news that "York's back yard" (Lord Esher's famous description) is to be cleared up to provide housing near the centre, but how this development can be seriously considered beats me.

Michael F Hopkinson,

Stockton Lane, York.

Updated: 09:09 Saturday, April 28, 2001