Stowaways will never be forced to leave UK

Grim sales news is no surprise

Your article ‘Sales nightmare before Christmas’ last week described how staff at large stores were telling customers to go online to buy popular items.

But many retail workers are also unaware of their own market. After I made a fruitless attempt to buy a rechargeable torch at a camping shop, the manager suggested I visit Maplin instead – but that chain had gone bust months before.

Eric Cope, Liverpool I hate shopping at the best of times, and it is a particular pain at Christmas with people bawling into their mobile phones, ‘music’ played at full volume over broadcast systems, and often there is a lack of choice of goods. It is little wonder that people like me now go online. John Kent, Fulham Last week you reported how the SBS had to rescue the crew of a vessel from Nigeria that had been taken over by stowaways off the Kent coast. You also said the stowaways were ‘detained under the Immigration Act’. That means they are now safely ensconced in Britain. Set foot on our soil and you will never be deported. James Sinclair, St Helier, Jersey