Like many others in Sussex and beyond, I've been following with morbid fascination the unfortunate saga of Nicholas Hoogstraten - the man who so accurately defines himself in his descriptions of other people.

The Argus reported the latest on his illegal blocking of the footpath running near his Uckfield estate. But isn't it curious how some members of East Sussex County Council seem to have become Hoogtraten's apologists.

There is one matter in particular I can't help but take issue over and that's the council's apparent objection to non-locals and people outside Sussex expressing their opinion on this matter. Let me assure the council that every British citizen has the right to object to illegal, bully-boy tactics in blocking a public right of way, irrespective of whether or not they ever intend using it.

Similarly, non-locals, including the Ramblers' Association, have every right to regard the council's over-easy acceptance of Hoogtraten's re-routing of the historical footpath as highly dubious.

-E. Moulpend, South View Terrace, Henfield