I SHOULD be grateful if you would publish my letter to Herefordshire Council.

I am privileged to be an official ambassador for Herefordshire and, as such, I am occasionally asked to support various campaigns against the desecration of our special county. This time I am dismayed to learn of the proposed inner western relief road for Hereford.

While I am fully aware of the nightmare of driving through the city centre, I cannot agree with the siting of this route.

I encourage people to visit Herefordshire for its stunning scenery and ancient buildings and here is an example of a plan to destroy both.

I used to visit Symonds Yat as a child and I came to live here 13 years ago. Generally the countryside has changed little over the years but gradually the pristine landscape is being eaten into and scarred forever.

It is incomprehensible to me that you would back such a decision when there are other options.

English Heritage must be consulted; it is so often left out of considerations, but it is the custodian of our historical buildings. Also the campaign to Protect Rural England. who are the people who know what’s best for the preservation of the countryside.

Just because other counties rush to add to the concrete encroachment of this country, remember they are not all as lucky as we are to have such a rich heritage.

If you allow this scheme to go ahead, with the inevitable consequence of ribbon development that will follow, I fear that our green fields will soon be covered over completely.

JOHN CHALLIS,

Leintwardine, Herefordshire.