IS digital television another government scam? One absolute certainty is that it is not "fit for purpose" as required by Trading Standards. Apart from access to a lot of meaningless channels it is inferior to analogue in every way. In half a century of TV ownership I cannot remember once having to retune to the available stations. With digital I have to reset the channels almost daily.

I have "automatic scan" (never needed before) which finds nothing. I have "restore factory settings" which finds 60-plus channels, many totally unrelated to TV programmes.

With the analogue sets we were encouraged to switch off the set after viewing on the grounds that "standby" used as much power as "on". When buying digital we were advised to leave the set on standby whenever it was not in use, in order to preserve the "settings", there being no appreciable power consumption in standby mode.

On the larger and most frequently used unit this practice does seem to maintain the settings for extended periods. On the 17-inch digital set and the similar analogue conversion set it makes no difference. Both units lose all the signals within 48 hours and the factory settings have to be restored.

On analogue sets the picture almost never broke up, but digital sets do it all the time. An installer told us one of the main reasons for poor service from digital units is scanners' inability to select the most advantageous transmitter, thereby rarely providing the best signal.

Digital television was forced on an unhappy but unsuspecting public by a huge government propaganda campaign which preceded the switching off of the analogue service. Most people did not want little boxes with a myriad wires cluttering up their lounge. The sales of new television sets rocketed. Somebody made an awful lot of money.

Perhaps the WMN could find some answers from those responsible for this scandalous example of taking the public to the cleaners.

D W Almond

Braunton

...nor is Met Office

WE are in the middle of the coldest spell of winter weather for 40 years, following the wettest summer for a similar period – yet the Met Office predicted a mild winter, following its "barbecue summer".

The Met Office costs taxpayers up to £250 million a year, with forecasting no more accurate than 10 years ago. It is able to give a "backcast" of weather we've had, but not an accurate forecast of what we will get.

It is therefore "not fit for purpose", a useless establishment in a brand new building rated the South West's third worst for heat loss, and with a new £30 million computer – installed to "predict" CO2 hotspot areas – which itself emits 14,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

It is time to save ourselves a lot of money and ditch the structure and its overpaid administrators. We should cut this overblown institution down to size and just leave the shipping forecast side of it in place.

David Morgans

South Molton

Unwelcome visitors

ONE sometimes wonders if Holsworthy Council actually wants the town to survive.

The Wednesday market is cancelled but no-one could be bothered to put a message out on Radio Devon.

Then when we decided to go into the town on the Saturday, we found the car park closed because of snow and ice.

There had been a couple of days with no snow, so there would have been sufficient time to arrange for something to be done about clearing it.

For a town to survive, it is necessary for one to be able to park one's car when one lives in the middle of nowhere (as we do).

Again, if we are not wanted in the town, it would be polite to let us know via the radio.

After all, if we are willing to go to the trouble of driving down our icy roads to get to Holsworthy, Holsworthy should be prepared to welcome us and not say "you are not wanted".

Michael Ashton

Torrington

Support village shop

DURING these cold weeks, I use the local shop as much as ever – but realise more so the importance of it to those who really need it.

The elderly, in particular, support the shop as it supports them, stocking essentials for their daily needs.

If we were to fast forward 10 years, would there still be the odd village store? Who knows?

I appreciate it, and trust that the village will spend a little more along with their daily papers to protect this valuable hub of the community.

It's down to our choices as consumers.

A T Smitheram

Praze, Camborne

Sickening episode

I HAVE long admired Pauline Kidner and her Secret World Wildlife Rescue, and have derived great pleasure from Richard Austin's enchanting photographs there.

How monstrous that she and her colleagues have been subjected to the sickening episode reported on January 8 – a fox, "a beautiful animal in prime condition", killed and mutilated, and then dumped outside the sanctuary.

It is difficult to believe that those responsible for such brutality can belong to the same species as the Pauline Kidners of the world.

Yvonne Anderson

Chagford