Letters - October 16, 2018

I begin to wonder whether we shall ever get a police service that will be efficient and fair to all the populace.

In some areas, murder has become commonplace and crime actually does pay for two very good reasons.

First of all, the police have been cut so far that they no longer bother to even try to detect some crimes and, in some cases, do not even record some minor crimes.

Secondly, justice has become so limited that courts are obliged to dole out suspended sentences or community orders.

Should an offender be sent to prison, it will be served in a cushy jail or one where the inmates rule.

Meanwhile, I believe that much of the violence in under 10s is caused by the continuous programmes and games in which violence is the core.

Young children have difficulty in discerning true actions from fictional characters they see on TV, who fight and use weapons to injure others.

Children, being children, will always attempt to copy what they see to be exciting.

In my youth, it was Cowboys and Indians but all the fighting was mimed as we well knew that, if we hurt someone, we ourselves would be punished.

Peter 
Hyde

via email

ENERGY

Late release of fracking data

The shale gas saga is a litany of reports not released until after a key decision had been made – the infamous DEFRA report, more recently an air quality report that did not see the light of day for three years, and the results of Cuadrilla’s 3D seismic survey.

These have been made public some nine months after the expected release date. This is, of course, too late to be reviewed by the wider scientific community, as all fracking permissions have now been given.

A seismic survey indicates the type, thickness and depths of rock layers below the surface, and I have no doubt that interpreting these results is a specialist skill, but it is one which Cuadrilla appears to lack.

The reason I say this is demonstrated by their explanatory diagrams. From the LCC planning application right up to the first draft of the HF Plan in October 2017, their graphic shows the vertical well passing through a layer of millstone grit, approximately 1,000ft thick, but when they actually drilled, they did not find any millstone grit This is shown in the amended graphic in the final HF Plan.

If the data had been released as expected in January 2018, scientists would have had time to assess these interpretations and raise any concerns. When the British Geological Survey positioned their monitoring stations in 2015, they had not seen the survey results and the wells had not been drilled, so they were effectively working ‘blind’. Were the monitoring stations where they needed to be?

T Froud

Lytham

RESORT

We had a great night on the town

We must write to say what a great night out we had recently in Blackpool. First what a great meal at the Yorkshire Fisheries - lovely fish and chips and the staff were very nice. Well done to all.

Then to top it all we went to see Early Doors. What a great show, I never laughed so much, and what great acting. We can see why it was sold out in Manchester, Liverpool and Hull. The Winter Gardens was full. Why did the BBC take it off TV 12 years ago?

Mr R Armstrong

Cherry Tree Road
Marton

APPEAL

Does anyone know about projectors?

I have been given two reel-to-reel film projectors to sell in my charity garage sale. I know nothing at all about whether anyone would still use them or their value.

I am hoping that someone can give me advice. Both projectors are in their original boxes, with the cardboard packaging and with instruction booklets. Both look unused.

The projectors are: Eumig P8 and Eumig Mark DL, both made in Austria. Also there are quite a few reels of film, not sure if they have been used.

As well as the projectors I have a large amount of film and TV star memorabilia, including signed photos, these may be genuine as the person who collected them had a link with Hollywood through a cousin.

Again I have no idea what they are worth and would appreciate some help.

Sue Ashton

07885438518
3 Archers Farm
Blackpool