The Chancellor of the Exchequer would never dream of putting 5p on the price of a nip, never mind 14p.

Before the rise some hostelries were popular with pensioners. How many pensioners were guilty of binge drinking?

Was the city centre really full of binge drinkers or just people in search of a good deal?

The licensees have no choice as the conditions are now attached to the granting of regular extensions.

This could even be interpreted as a restrictive practice.

I now understand the council supports a report which proposes a levy of 9p on a plastic carrier bags, available free in most shops and supermarkets.

In which manifesto did this appear at election time?

This is a hidden tax and it will hit low income earners and those on benefits and pensions. — David Cowan, Cobden Street, Dundee.

You trumpet the banner headline “Visa joy” then go on to tell a story involving a round trip to London costing £418 for a three-minute interview that ends with the subject of the story being granted a 10-year visa to the US.

At no time do you state that Mr Duffy had wasted his money due to the fact he did not have to declare his conviction.

You do, however, hint at that fact in your panel headed “Letter reply”.

This hardly qualifies as something to celebrate.

For the sake of all readers, can you for once and all confirm the following:—

If I have a conviction that qualifies as spent after 10 years do I have to declare it to the US Customs or when applying for a visa? — M. M.

[William Farish, the US Ambassador in London, has said that people with criminal records may not apply for the visa waiver programme as the UK Rehabilitation of Offenders Act does not apply to US visa law and the American government does not recognise any felony conditions as “spent”.]

It looked magnificent decked out with Lion Rampant flags. The store (latterly Arnotts) was always a central feature of shopping in the city centre.

I am glad the Dawn Group, who purchased the building from House of Fraser, is keeping the stone facade. I am looking forward to shopping there again once the new tenants move in to the various retail units it will contain. — Shop ’Til I Drop.

My initial thoughts were it was quite a flippant reply by Telewest, who said they regretted that the customer “felt” let down and not that they had indeed been let down.

It got me thinking, so I checked the recently-issued edition of the phone book and was shocked to discover that my number is also in it.

I have a second separate line for Internet connection and this, too, is listed.

I contacted Telewest and was routed to a south-west London call centre where a girl insisted I was not, and never had been, ex-directory, but she would list me as such from now on if I wished.

My attempts to tell her that this was not correct and that a confidentiality had been breached fell on deaf ears. — Another Ex-Happy Phone User.

MANY THANKS for publishing the reader’s letter on the subject of details being published in BT’s phone book.

I too was horrified to find my details listed.

I have lived at my address for 21 years and had never been listed as I work in a “sensitive” profession and don’t want my details published.

I immediately demanded a change of phone number from Telewest. It took them six days to do this.

I also intend to write a letter seeking financial compensation as I am now seriously thinking about moving house. — Fed Up With Telewest.

I READ the letter from Ex-Happy Phone User. The same thing has happened to me and my sister.

I was appalled to find our numbers in the BT book and we, too, are with Telewest. — D. F.

even to fire a peashooter at us — I think back to a genuine occasion where action was meritorious.

President Kennedy on October 15, 1962, learned from the CIA that the Soviet Union was building a nuclear missile site on Cuba.

By October 22, as more Russian ships, stocked with more missiles, approached Cuba, he responded with a blockade.

The missile-laden armada turned back, but the crisis had brought the superpowers to the brink of war.

This action makes the present-day Iraq squabbles about as befitting of gravitas as a Sunday school picnic. — J. I. Matthew.

Can any the Tele readers dig out any photographs from over the years?

For instance the hospital was famous during the war years for the treatment, care and attention given to service personnel. — Mr Pat L. Deans, Rosendael, Scottish Veterans Homes, 3 Victoria Road, Broughty Ferry, Dundee DD5 1BE.

Anyone interested in renal matters is invited. — Mrs I. Fleming, Secretary.