What a whirlwind of letters the tuk-tuks provoked (Letters, July 17) and what a variety of opinions, too. The best was Pete Gillman's well worth its pride of place.

Thankfully, I have needed a taxi only rarely but, on those few occasions, I have found them unreliable and over-priced.

Two evenings ago, a family of overseas visitors ordered a taxi from my house to the station for the following day - and, on the day, it required three further calls before one appeared, 20 minutes later than arranged.

No wonder Brighton's taxi drivers are up in arms against the tuk-tuks. While they have a monopoly, standards can be allowed to drop.

Ray Farrow has a point, too. As with anything new or different in our city, the advent of the tuk-tuks has been met with an outcry from those who would drag us back into the past if commonsense did not prevail.

Dean Atkins's logic seems defective - tuk-tuks, he says, are environmentally unfriendly because the buses are empty.

Are tuk-tuks to be blamed because buses run on fuel which pollutes? Come off it.

Valerie Richards raised the problem of disabled access, while J Verguson and Alan Johnson pointed out tuk-tuks are not taxis and the drivers have had no security checks.

I hope these points can be resolved so the tuk-tuks can become a part of our great and fascinating city.

I wish Dominic Ponniah and his team the very best of luck. May he and they go from strength to strength.

-Dr M B Johnson, Brighton