UNDOUBTEDLY the traders of Worle High Street are correct in their fear of the death of the commercial life if the street is closed

UNDOUBTEDLY the traders of Worle High Street are correct in their fear of the death of the commercial life if the street is closed. This idea is just another means of wasting the taxpayers money. If there have been pedestrian-motorist accidents it must have been due in most cases to pedestrian carelessness. There are pavements on both sides of the street and a number of pedestrian crossings.Furthermore, for most of the day the congestion at the eastern end of this stretch of the High Street is so great that traffic almost invariably travels very slowly. A far greater hazard for pedestrians and to a lesser extent motorists is the number of lawless cyclists who flout every statute on the book with absolute impunity. The police refuse to enforce the law in the interest of public safety although on June 2 2004 Chief Superintendent Tracey Hayler after speaking to seniors and hearing their complaints on this subject said "we must have a purge". We are still waiting. If the constabulary and the judiciary were to co-operate and levy a few substantial fines the message would soon get through to these menaces. The maximum fine for cycling on the pavement is £500 and for dangerous cycling £2,000 (ref the Highway Code). The police do not have space to impound offenders' bicycles but they have space to impound cars. They also can seize and destroy mini motos when used illegally, why not bicycles?F TUCKER - Milton Road, Weston