I WRITE in response to the article in the Evening Advertiser of April 7 concerning the introduction in 2006 of age discrimination legislation for employment.

In my opinion this legislation is long overdue and, like many others, I cite my experiences focusing primarily on the deplorable attitude of employers towards older people.

Since being forced to retire, aged 62, in November 2004, I have applied for 54 positions across a wide spectrum of retail, commercial and industrial organisations.

Of these I received nine replies, only two of these inviting me for an interview. Of the remainder I heard nothing.

I am physically and mentally fit, have over 40 years experience from a career as a technician, engineer, supervisor and manager. I am hard-working, conscientious, honest and have a lifetime of experience to offer.

I am available with no family restrictions, am fully mobile, have a lifelong clean driving licence and am computer literate.

So why then have I not been successful in securing further employment? The fact that 45 of those employers I had applied to did not even have the courtesy to reply leads me to the conclusion that I was too old to be considered.

I am all in favour of such legislation and believe its introduction to be long overdue. However, the issue will still remain as to how does one prove that you have been the subject of discrimination?

M G MALLON

Swindon