It is beyond belief the fire services were brought in to check the fire safety mechanisms only hours before the fanfare opening of the Brighton Dome last Sunday.

With three years of renovation and delays, I should have thought they would have been involved far earlier by the developers and construction engineers.

The months of work given to the organising of this marathon event have been in the hands of the general manager of the Brighton Philharmonic Society, Tony Woodhouse, his staff and the musical director, Barry Wordsworth, the orchestra manager, Wilfred Goddard, and orchestra leader, John Bradbury, who must all feel very let down.

Do we now add this to yet another Brighton and Hove fiasco?

The Brighton Marina gradually losing its water, the Aquarium white elephant, the West Pier development, the King Alfred centre, football making further encroachment on the Brighton Athletic Club's facilities at Withdean Stadium and now looking at Falmer, the Brighton station site for yet another supermarket, the derelict Brighton library site, the shabby Prince Regent swimming complex and the demolition of a well-designed multi-purpose theatre in North Street.

Brighton and Hove bidding for Capital of Culture? Pull the other one.

-Jane Goldsmith, Braybon Avenue, Brighton