It was good to read some common sense in the headlines in The Argus yesterday.

The story was about a council report that stated: “Given that a certain level of under-18 drinking is probably inevit-able, it might be preferable if this took place in pubs.”

As a pensioner aged 70 that drank a couple of times a week in pubs since the age 15, the year I started work, drinking from an early age hasn’t done me any harm.

The pub landlord probably knew we were under-age but turned a blind eye unless we misbehaved when we would get kicked out for a few weeks, which we regretted.

In those days, young people respected pub land- lords.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t spend every evening in a pub, I also used a sports club (weight-lifting gym) and owned a motorbike. Most of the youngsters today cannot afford these things.

Why shouldn’t young people after a day’s work or serving their country in the armed services, as I did in my national service days, be able to enjoy a few beers in their local?

I believe antisocial behaviour is a backlash from the young for being treated like children – especially working class youngsters.

I think we have too much interference in our lives from the middle classes in the nanny state.

Roy Laker, Rolands Road, Worthing