Sorry, JR Norman (Letters, June 9), you're right, I don't have much experience of the 4x4 problem in Dyke Road.

I agree that, for many well-off people, a new 4x4 may well be a status symbol.

The same, though, can be said of a big, shiny, new Merc, BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar or whatever.

These all use lots if fuel, take up the same amount of space on the road as a 4x4 and are unnecessarily large for transporting the one or two people you see in them.

I don't come from the posh end of town and the 4x4s around here are generally older and seen by larger families as a cheap alternative to an overpriced people carrier.

If someone can point me in the direction of a manufacturer that can supply me with two 1.1 litre cars capable of doing 120 miles per gallon for less than £7,000 for the pair, I'll snap them up.

-Peter Millis, Woodingdean