I read with some amusement the correspondence following Richard Cairns's comments on his appointment as new head of Brighton College.

Should we not pay attention to these as they come from an experienced outsider who has no axe to grind?

I would suggest the detractors have never ventured beyond the city's boundaries and, having no experience of comparing Brighton with other areas, immediately summon their misguided, indignant rose-coloured glasses.

I spend about three months of the year in Europe and dread returning to Brighton - to the noise, rubbish, smell, continuous roadworks, couldn't-care-less attitudes, total absence of any policing etc.

-Tony Booker, Brighton