It is disgusting that so far £538 million has been thrown at this white elephant we call the Dome. I have not been to it but I have had two parents who both died from cancer, one of whom was cared for in St Leonard's Hospice.

It is obscene to give money to a 'tourist attraction' when thousands of people are dying of this terrible disease every year.

The Lottery fund begrudges £200,000 to go to a place that does everything it can to ease the pain and suffering of patients who have to suffer terrible pain towards the end of their lives.

Those who made this decision should be disgusted with themselves - £538 million could have gone towards finding a cure for cancer. And if they couldn't donate a small amount to a wonderful place like St Leonard's then there is no hope for any of us. Ask anyone who has had family members die of this disease if they would rather have the Millennium Dome or their loved ones back.

Take the Dome bosses around any hospice and ask them to look in the eyes of patients and families. Then ask them to whom they would rather give the money.

Mrs Norma Beavers,

Theresa Close,

Huntington, York.

...WHAT could we do with £47 million? Eradicate tuberculosis from the whole world - responsible for one in seven deaths worldwide.

Fund one and a half million nursing posts or a million doctors.

Put 47,000 computers into our schools and colleges.

Subsidise 20,000 university grants so young people of all backgrounds can once again consider this option rather than it being the preserve of the middle-classes.

Fund the St Leonard's Hospice for the next 40 years.

Any of these would have been better. Now, what could we have done with the £500 million that has already gone into that giant marquee in London?

It's no wonder British people need a stoic attitude look at what we have to put up with... I could weep!

Mrs Davies,

Clifton Park, York.

...THE Dome (or should it be called Doom?) has become the world's most expensive white elephant. It is not just obscene but criminal that so many millions have been spent on this and that well deserving causes such as the Hospice 2000 Appeal have been totally ignored.

Had those who organised the Dome in the first place erected it somewhere in middle England where it was within day trip distance for people from all over the British Isles then it may well have been more successful, but it was the most ill-thought out Millennium project ever.

When one thinks what could have been done with all the millions spent on this disaster one could weep. I am sure the majority of people would have preferred projects to benefit the sick, less fortunate and more areas of the population.

I do not doubt that the contents of the Dome are extremely impressive, but I am sure a lot of people have, as a point of principle, not visited it because of the vast amount of money it cost. It is not a farce but a tragedy.

Vicky Gilbert,

Stockton Lane,

Stockton-on-the-Forest, York.