The flocking instinct of the space invaders

SIR – Recent letters (February 23) have discussed people’s tendency to “flock”.

Some years ago, on holiday in Wales, we found a deserted beach. Getting there involved clambering down cliffs with five young children, buckets, spades and picnic.

We duly erected a windbreak; there was not a soul in sight. Next thing we knew, another family had appeared, using the other side of our windbreak and carrying on as if we were not there. They seemed a little put out when we eventually moved to another site. Luckily they did not follow. Wendy Singleton Crowborough, East Sussex SIR – We once parked our caravan in the middle of one of the large empty fields of a campsite.

Shortly after, another caravan arrived. The owner surveyed the field, then came and parked next to us. David Burke Hook, Hampshire SIR – This also happens in ladies’ loos. In a long line of empty cubicles, someone will invariably choose the one next to me. Jacqueline McCrindle Prestwick, Ayrshire SIR – I call this phenomenon Changing Room Syndrome.

You can leave your clothes on a hook in an empty gym changing room, knowing that, when you return, the only person to have arrived in your absence will have chosen the hook next to yours. Most annoying. Derry Gibb Epping, Essex SIR – Regardless of the number of free seats in a cinema auditorium, someone always takes the one right in front of you. More often than not they will also be trying to break records in popcorn-eating and sweet-wrapper-rustling. Kevin Dowling Lincoln