The guns started firing the week before Christmas and are still firing four months later.

At their peak I was suffering 20 explosions a minute heard from indoors (I have double glazing).

Guns regularly malfunction and fire all through the night.

I've tried pleading with the local farmers to lessen their use but their attitude is that they have every right to cause any amount of nuisance to protect their crops, no matter how effective the bird scarers actually are.

Adherence to the NFU Code of Practice is a sick joke.

I've complained to the local council but, provided no single gun is firing 'too often', there seems no enforceable limit to the number that can be employed in an area.

I encourage anyone suffering this slow torture to complain to their council and sign the petition at:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Bird-Scarers/

Keith Browne

Address withheld by agreement

Have radical clearout of undesirables

I was interested to read that the landlady of the Queen's Head in Eye feels that the pub may have to close unless more visitors are attracted to the town (Town's last pub under threat, Diss Express, May 15).

Maybe there is a need for her to re-examine the reasons why people do not use the pub; particularly in view of the population of the town.

My wife and I have briefly visited the establishment several times over the last few years and cannot say that we feel comfortable there.

On the last occasion, while a major football match was in progress, the language coming from the public bar was, to say the least, colourful and went completely unchallenged by either staff or management.

In my view, if the pub was made more consumer friendly to the residents of Eye, there would be no need to rely on passing tourist trade.

This may mean having a radical clearout of undesirable regulars with a limited vocabulary but would, I feel sure, be beneficial in the long run as many residents who my wife and I have spoken to share the same opinion.

Name and address withheld by agreement

It is ugly and inappropriate

It has always been a mystery to me how planning permission was ever granted for the building of Grasmere.