In response to firefighter Docherty (Letters, July 20), perhaps putting a banner on the Town Hall with the help of a turntable ladder was not quite as defined in the "duties of a fireman".

I carried out drills all over my fireground which were a great help towards the time when the vehicle might be really needed.

Surely the occasion at Brighton Town Hall amounts to a drill with the added benefit of a banner raised?

Two things worry me. Would the firefighter have complained so bitterly if the banner had advertised anything other than gay marriages?

Why the hell does it take so long now to make up this appliance ready for the road? Perhaps a few more drills would speed things up.

-Dave Huggins, Hove