Was seagull drama just another elf ’n’ safety farce?

FURTHER to your coverage of the 25 firemen not allowed to enter a 3ftdeep pond to rescue a seagull, nor to rescue drowning ten-year-old Jordan Lyon, nor Simon Burgess, allowed to perish in 3ft of water, I find the idiots at health and safety who make these rules insufficiently considerate. Our brave firemen shouldn’t be allowed near a fire either. Fires are very hot and smokey and may also entail the use of dangerous water to extinguish them. Furthermore, I hope they have put a stop to firemen sliding down the fire station poles. This practice may result in bone fractures. They should be used by them only to give each other pole dancing displays.

GAYNOR PUIG, London W11. FIREFIGHTERS were not stopped from entering the water because of health and safety protocols. They were unnecessarily called out to reports of a seagull in distress. Upon arriving and realising the seagull was fine, they left. Firefighters know better than to waste their time on such trivial matters and were at the scene for around seven minutes, not the 60 minutes suggested. Just this week, firefighters rescued a man after the bulldozer he was driving fell into a quarry. When they realised the man’s life was at risk, crews acted outside of normal procedures and risked their own safety to save his life. This is proof that firefighters are not bound by health and safety rules. They are trained to make difficult judgment calls about when it is right to risk their lives in order to save another.

RON dobson, Commissioner, London Fire Brigade. LET’S be sensible and admit a seagull in a pond isn’t a crisis. What I do have a problem with was properties set alight during last summer’s riots being allowed to burn while the authorities seemingly sat on their hands. If they are not doing seagulls or fires, what are they doing?

SIMON CAMPBELL, Glasgow.