Greedy water companies left us high and dry

SAVe water or our taps will run dry in 25 years, warns Sir James Bevan, head of the environment Agency (Mail).

Water companies have closed hundreds of local reservoirs, including several in my area, and sold off the land for housing. As a result, there is little doubt the amount of water storage is far less than decades ago, when there were fewer houses and people.

It is time to take control of water storage out of the hands of the water companies, whose only solution to supply issues is to tell people to use less. JAMES WIGNALL, Accrington, Lancs. WheN was the last reservoir created in Britain? It’s no good constantly increasing housing unless the infrastructure is improved at the same time. We need to collect precious rainfall.

It’s too easy for the fat cat water companies and Government to blame climate change.

JoAN FRoSt, henfield, W. Sussex. COUNCILS have been pursuing the insulation of properties with vigour, but have been less inclined to promote the idea of rain and waste water harvesting.

Why aren’t new-build homes fitted with underground storage tanks? This country gets more than its fair share of rainfall, but it is just going to waste.

MICK JoNES, Llangollen, Clwyd. AS WeLL as encouraging the public to conserve resources, the water companies should make a greater effort to mend ruptured water mains quickly.

DAVID L. PRYoR, henfield, W. Sussex. hOW can Britain run out of water? We are an island nation! All we need are desalination plants around the coasts.

P. BARBER, Birmingham. WOULD it help if I took less water and more whiskey in my tipple?

PEtER WINDLE, Waterlooville, hants.

Blithering idiots

ALMOST three years wasted in pointless dithering. It’s as if the silly MPs haven’t noticed the increasing economic strength of China and the U. S. or the militaristic ambitions of Russia.

And all because our leaders have forgotten one of the basic tenets of democracy: the decision of the majority is not necessarily the best or correct, but it allows us to settle an issue in a manner that is far superior to any methods humanity has tried before.

If they are in any doubt about this, they should reflect that both they and the blithering idiots sitting beside them in the Commons were elected by a majority vote.

RuSS BALL, Leicester.

Join the club

I BeLIeVe that a major reason for the rise in middle-age loneliness (Mail) is that so few people are joining organisations, be it Rotary, Round Table, Lions, Freemasons, model engineering or railway clubs, dancing or churches.

Then they wonder why they don’t have a social life.

If you join a club, you will meet a group of like-minded people and expand your mind. But many are closing down due to a shortage of new and young members.

I know of a railway preservation society that is restricted by a lack of skilled volunteers who were the backbone for the past 50 years, while junior football clubs and Scouts are finding great difficulty in attracting volunteer leaders. I go on holiday to Devon and noticed that the Sunday morning congregation at the local church was half the size of last year.

Delegates at a philatelic conference I recently attended were mostly elderly.

My hobbies and interests have kept me going through thick and thin over the years and provided stability when all else was in a state of flux.

I’m afraid that too many people are prepared to just sit there and do nothing.

having an interest keeps you alert and interesting to be with, long after most couch potatoes have kicked their lonely bucket. JEREMY J. GASKELL,

Dartford, Kent.

Where’s the fire?

FIRST, South Yorkshire Fire And Rescue Service complains that the children’s cartoon character Fireman Sam does not represent the sexual and racial diversity of firefighters. Then London Fire Brigade makes disparaging remarks about Peppa Pig.

If the bosses of our fire services have nothing better to do than ponder children’s cartoons, would it not be a good idea to slash administrative budgets and redeploy the savings for their brigades’ core purpose of fighting fires?

IAN McNIChoLAS, Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent.

Animal tragic

IN MY area, I’ve spotted an increase in wildlife over the past six months.

After never having seen a badger, last week I saw two. I was surprised at how big they are, with a smart go-faster stripe on their handsome head.

I’ve seen several foxes with their beautiful, burnished copper coats, pheasants in all their colourful glory and many rabbits.

The trouble is they were all dead — pathetic, bloody heaps at the side of the road.

L. REID, Leicester.

Tax scam scuppered

ThANK you for highlighting the hMRC fraud (Mail). When I was contacted by these scammers, I panicked.

They told me I would have to pay what was, in fact, a fake outstanding tax bill with iTunes gift cards.

I went to buy them at a local branch of W. h. Smith, but thank goodness the staff recognised that I was being scammed and called the police. Action Fraud is investigating.

Once I realised what was happening, I went from being fearful and agitated to feeling angry. Since then, the scammers have called me three more times, but I no longer answer my phone.

Name supplied, Cambridge. I hAVe been ex- directory for years and have caller display that allows me to screen calls. I never answer international numbers and ignore withheld numbers, though this facility is used by many organisations including my GP surgery.

Now international scam callers have worked out how to appear to be ringing from the UK (Mail).

Last week, I received eight calls supposedly from Dundee, hull, Tyne & Wear and Aylesbury, all claiming to be my internet provider. I don’t have a computer.

I have passed on this information to the Fraud Action line — not that it can do much about it.

A. A. BELLAMY, Derby.

Pleading poverty

SOUTh-WeST London head teacher Siobhan Lowe blamed Tory austerity when she claimed she had to clean the school toilets herself (Mail).

Then it was revealed she had received a £10,000 pay rise and the school cleaning budget had soared by 90 per cent.

Like she has, any school pleading poverty and asking for funding from parents should have to publish its expenditure and wages. I hope parents ask for this information before handing over a penny.

P. GRINDEY, Didcot, oxon.