I have been watching this programme for many years and, except for one brief spell, when it was more like a soap opera than a police series, it has maintained a high standard of television.

I have been gripped by the current storyline when one officer, under severe provocation, assaulted a thoroughly evil man.

I have been aware that the programme (usually two half-hour shows every week at 8pm) was moving to its new slot and, being after the watershed, would be able to deal with grittier subjects in greater depth.

Now I discover that STV is not going to show this programme, and indeed other leading series, being broadcast at prime time everywhere else on ITV stations.

I am sure when the owners of this station won the ITV franchise for the central belt and the west of Scotland it did not declare that it would opt out of main ITV shows. I am equally sure that when this franchise took over Grampian it did not tell the regulators of this plan.

I understand the company has commissioned a documentary series about “famous” Scots and is trying to pull the wool over viewers’ eyes claiming that Scottish programmes are an improvement.

I am all for STV commissioning Scottish shows, but there is a time and a place for cheap documentaries and it is not in prime time TV.

In fact if they get away with this then the whole ethos of ITV (local companies band together to compete with BBC with regional opt-out slots) could unravel.

And it can’t be the cost, as tiny Border is showing The Bill.

Meanwhile, if STV is so keen to be Scottish, why is it filling its slots with stuff like South Park, a non-mainstream cartoon series set in Canada and which has already been aired by Channel 4?

I would try to organise a boycott of this channel, but this is not on (we would miss Corrie). However, I will find it easy to boycott this slot and find something entertaining elsewhere. I hope other viewers do the same. — Bill Fan.

When Saddam was in power, his son was throwing dissidents into human blending machines. I am told the lucky ones went in headfirst and were killed almost instantly. The others went in feet first and lingered painfully.

George Bush Jnr helped stop that. UK forces helped to stop that. The Iraq mistake was made in 1992 when his father stopped short then of removing Saddam to appease world opinion.

Now we are in Afghanistan, let’s do the job right. Instead of spending so much propping up incompetent banks, let’s put 25,000 men in here with bombproof trucks and big helicopters. Let’s soften up the enemy by bombing their strongholds in the hills, and there will be a lot fewer bodies coming home here.

I say to these “Stop the War” people, Winston Churchill said it, “Where would we be now if we had all been pacifists in 1939?”

You can’t ignore evil, be it fascist, communist, or religious. — Dundee Reader.

I can now advise that following a very positive emergency meeting on Tuesday, July 14, the Out of School Club will be continuing into the new term (and, hopefully, long into the future).

I thank parents and carers who turned up to the meetings and also the council officials and local elected members (Councillors Ross and Duncan) who attended to offer their advice and support.

I trust this support continues in the future to ensure the club remains a sustainable facility serving the local community.

It offers an invaluable resource and can offer places for all school children in St Clement’s, Charleston and Lochee primary schools.

I urge any parents and carers who may be interested in their children using this resource to contact the club on 07982 500 606 for further information. — David F. McPhee, Chairperson, Out of School Care Club, Dundee.

Or are they going to keep it in storage and just forget about it?

I promised my mum I would lay flowers at the plaque in memory of her brother.

I have had to break that promise.

I feel Dundee City Council are sweeping the Old Dundee away. — Old Dundonian.