There have been many letters condemning the unfortunate individuals at Norfolk Square who are addicted to drugs and alcohol and there has been criticism of St Patrick's Church for giving these people shelter for the night.

In Finland the police round up the drunks and vagrants from the street and take them to shelters before they freeze to death in sub-zero temperatures.

Here, it seems, we are not so humane. The attitude is to treat them as lepers and get rid of them as quickly as possible.

We are behind other countries in our response to these social problems. There are no rehabilitation centres and we treat them as if they do not exist.

It is easy to criticise when you are in a far better position than these victims of today's society.

-Elaine Marchant, Brighton