AFTER reading your article (December 13) about the ruts on The Ridgeway, I measured the width of the rear tyre of my motor cycle.

It is 51/2 inches and I fail to see how motor cycles can be blamed for the 12 inch ruts that Mr Ritchie was complaining about. We all know these ruts were caused by heavy farm equipment initially.

Mr Ritchie stated he saw a group of 20 riders the previous week. In all the time I have been riding green lanes I have never seen groups of 20 riders.

But even if there were 20 riders together, with the average cost of each bike at £3,500 they would have paid £12,250 value added tax plus over £600 per annum for road fund licences and I think as we pay a tax for roads whereas the average walker only pays VAT on a pair of boots we should have more say.

We should be allowed have our say at any meetings with local authorities but this does not seem to be the case. Bikers are not invited to discussions even though there are several who would be willing to act as spokesmen for the rest of us.

In the 50 years I have ridden bikes, motor cyclists have been discriminated against but to accuse us of making ruts three times the width of our tyres is stretching the imagination to the point of being ridiculous.

KEN LEON

Kingstone Winslow