Pop veteran Tom Jones, 60 this week, has just had a top ten hit with Sex Bomb. But should golden oldies leave all this sort of stuff behind them and age gracefully? Here are two strikingly different opinions.

YES...says 59-year-old York musician and teacher Ron Burnett

PERFORMING as sex on legs, a dangerman raunching around the rock'n'roll stage flashing his tongue and leering eyes at the nubile young women in the audience, Tom Jones behaves at 60 like a tom cat on the prowl.

Poor Tom. What would he rather be doing? As a man of some years myself, I suspect that deep down he yearns for his home in sunny California, a poodle on his lap, pipe in his hand, enjoying a nice cup of tea by the pool. True, the soul mate by his side may be fashionably lean and sunburned, but by now he should value someone nearer his own age.

The evidence: on the TV show, An Audience With Tom Jones, the pelvic thrusts are drastically rationed and the lascivious lip-lapping tongue is less an expression of barely controlled passion, more a need to mop up pensioner's drool.

Not for nothing does he wear form-flattering black, but the camera never lies, Tom.

The jacket he involuntarily draws together with nervous hands covers a spreading waistline.

At 60, even tying your shoe-lace can tax ageing muscles. Imagine what havoc climbing into the back seat of a car for hanky panky with a younger woman would do.

Before the car situation is reached, what of the chat-up?

Sit with a young woman in a restaurant and "Pass the ketchup please" is the only conversational gambit which would elicit any response - and that with a kind and pitying smile, if you're lucky. Put a 60-year-old man on a plate next to a pork pie and most young women would go for the pie every time. As a sensual experience, eating the pie lasts longer.

For most men of 60, the waistline spreads as readily as the River Ouse breaches its banks but with cash you can check the waistline, the jawline, the hairline, the eyeline and any other damned line.

Tom saw to his noseline early in his career.

Tom isn't short of a bob or two, and alongside fame money is a great aphrodisiac.

Fans polled by Open TV say his current hit, Sex Bomb, is the one most likely to make them throw their underwear at him.

If the fans are Tom's age, is their underwear a prospect to relish?

As for Tom's lip-smacking focus on younger women audience members, it's the unpalatable in pursuit of the unlikely. Remember Harpo Marx chasing terrified women with his car horn and you'll get the picture.

However, the voice still sounds fab.

Most men of his age can take a beautiful song, send it through their nose and have it come out like a fog warning. A great sound, Tom, but hang up the stage suit and stick to CD.

Old Hits by Old Gits, if accompanied by archaic gyrations, are embarrassing to grandchildren. You know it makes sense.

NO...says Evening Press reader and letter-writer Margaret Lawson

It is most definitely possible to look fabulous at 60. However, it is no use deceiving ourselves that we can look 25 again. Far better to relax a little and 'go with the flow'. This is different from 'letting oneself go'.

To look great at 60 it is essential to stay interested in life. Be positive, caring and serene. Keep a sense of humour and a bubbly personality - so no one notices any drooping or wrinkling. And move with the times, accepting yourselves and others. It's all well worth it to look fantastic, to be sexy at 60... and beyond.

There has never been a better time than 2000 to seek help for looking good. Shops are crammed with lovely clothes in a variety of styles and sizes. Years ago there was much less choice, yet even then I remember my mother and grandma looking lovely at 60-plus.

Looking good at 60 need not cost a fortune and doesn't require cosmetic surgery. There may have been one or two things I would have altered along those lines but if, like me, you can't afford such drastic measures learn to live with faults in your appearance. Nobody's perfect.

There's no point trying to be pencil thin unless a person is that way naturally, because a balanced diet is vital. In any case, sex bombs need curves.

Apart from a balanced diet, moisturising creams are the secret to keeping the skin in top condition. Venture out without make-up if you are in a rush, but always cleanse, tone and moisturise.

Good clothes can be found in the many charity shops. My winter coat was bought from one of these lifesaving places and I feel fabulous in it.

Hair is a problem. To tint or not to tint? After years of semi-permanent rinses, highlights and a spectacular, orange-glow perm, I have now opted to stay with my natural grey. But that is not for everyone - so find a shade to suit you and go for it.

I am full of admiration for women who, possibly after chemotherapy, lose their hair and cope either by facing the world just as they are or by wearing stylish, flatteringly draped scarves. The wigs I have seen in shops look fine and I've got my eye on one, just in case.

But find a suitable style. Long blonde hair and maturing faces don't really go together.

Bald men? There is only one thing to say on the subject... I adore them. So, be proud of your pate, keep any hair you may have well cut and don't try spreading it about as a 'disguise'.

Hats look good and add panache to your appearance - and sex appeal. There was a marvellous letter in the Evening Press recently from Bev Dearnley. In spite of having suffered clinical depression, Bev 'treasures the moment.'

I agree. Lots of little, special moments soon add up to a whole lot of happiness - and it shows in 60-year-old faces!