Sir, – On July 7 my wife and I spent a night in Darlington.

We stayed in the Houndgate Townhouse which was one of the best hotels we stayed in during our visit to the North- East – we are from Northern Ireland and were on a twoweek holiday to North Yorkshire and the North-East.

We were very impressed with the hotel, with the facilities in Darlington town centre and with the hospitality.

Unfortunately, the visit was marred by being unable to get to sleep because of noise and activity from a night club behind the hotel. The noise, at an absurdly high level, continued until almost 4am.

This was accompanied by cars being raced around the town centre, as well as shouting and fights that broke out between people who came out of the club. I am surprised that the council, the police and the people of Darlingtom tolerate such behaviour. We of course accept that town centres will involve night time entertainment that will involve a reasonable level of noise but what we experienced was far beyond reasonable.

I do hope the council will consider how these difficulties can be addressed to ensure that Darlington will be seen as it should be as an exceptional town worthy of a stay over by visitors.

DAVE WALL Ballymena, Northern Ireland.