Are mobility scooters a menace or a lifeline?

I AM a 65-year-old female who used to play squash, volleyball, basketball and badminton. I also did two London Marathons. I now struggle with osteoarthritis (I’ve have had one hip replaced) and hate the fact I need to use a small scooter. To think it’s funny that someone is setting down tacks to burst wheels is beyond me. JACQUIE MOUNTJOY, Bicester, Oxon.

NOT everyone who uses these mobility scooters ‘are fatties on their way to a chip shop’. Most users obtain their scooters through the Motability scheme because they have a chronic illness. I am one of those so-called ‘fatties’ due to medical problems. Mobility scooters are available in two sizes, Class 2 and Class 3. The former has a top speed of 4mph and must only be used on a footpath. The latter has a top speed of 8mph and can be used both on footpaths and roads. Recently, while I was out on a scooter, someone walked towards me, their head buried in their mobile phone. I stopped, but he continued walking before falling over me. He insisted I provide him with my name and address so I could pay for his suit to be cleaned. I suggested we examine footage from nearby CCTV cameras to see who was to blame. He stormed off swearing.

ROGER BRADSHAW, colchester. I HAVE a mobility scooter — the only bit of independence I have left since my husband died in May, and I am unable to walk more than a few yards. Let me assure Richard Littlejohn I do not run amok in town centres. However, I do have to manoeuvre my way along broken and pot-holed footpaths, rendered thus because car and van drivers park across them. MRS A. WOOD, carrville, Durham.