I WAS upset to read that there is another protest against the newly-proposed skate park.

But what really made me angry was the front page layout. Directly below the news of the protest was an article entitled Skateboarder, 12, admits to causing barn blaze. Why was it so important to say that he was a skateboarder?

I have always thought that the Gazette supported our youngsters in their quest for a new skate park but now I see the paper is trying to jeopardise all their efforts by implying that skateboarders are vandals. Can you justify this front page?

MARY CANALES

Chippenham

Yes we can justify our front page headline of June 5. The youths accused of setting fire to Coun Sturgis' barn were skateboarders. We know this because they have admitteed they were skateboarding in the barn and were melting wax for their boards when the blaze started.

The Gazette has consistently backed the skateboarders' demands for a new skatepark and we have been at the forefront of the campaign to provide one. However, we are not about to change or mask the facts of a story to help that campaign.

Gary Lawrence, editor