IT IS a great shame that the recent story about residents' complaints in Abbey Meads has become a slanging match between the Penhill and Abbey Meads estates.

The issue has been allowed to escalate from a problem in one small area to include the whole of Penhill versus Abbey Meads.

It is a shame when the people living in an area feel compelled to explain that they are good, decent people because of a few mindless yobs. But equally, it's a shame when other people's lives have become difficult because of the same mindless yobs.

What is the answer? For a start, let's stop going at each other as if we are different. We aren't. That way lie the divisions of Ireland. That way lie the problems in Palestine and Israel.

Is it really so big a problem that we can't find a solution? The police think the walkway should be closed, but have all the other possibilities been looked at? Is it beyond our council to find an answer?

Let somebody in a position of authority treat this problem with the seriousness and urgency it deserves.

S Barclay

Hudson Way

Abbey Meads