Sir, – Your front page article on Friday, November 7,outlined readers concerns about North Yorkshire County Council's approach to the Bedale bypass.

I can state as fact that many of the residents in the Scruton, Kirkby Fleetham and Leeming Bar area have serious concerns also.

While totally in favour of the bypass scheme, there are serious questions to be asked about both public safety and the squandering of taxpayers' money.

The public safety issue emanates from the proposal to use Roughly Bank as the principal route from the villages to the A1 when Low Street is closed during bypass construction. This, put simply, just can't be safe.

It is 200 yards of narrow, single carriageway, pitted beyond belief, with not enough room for two cars to pass on it. To intend to use this demonstrates shallow thinking by the council and a blatant disregard for public safety.

The concern over wasted money is based on what appears to be a flawed design on the eastern section. Two roads are planned where one would be quite sufficient. The flyover planned to cross Low Street is just not necessary. A roundabout on Low Street would mean a saving of 200 yards of road, would take away the need for a bridge, have a better aesthetic effect with no disadvantage to vehicles travelling in any direction.

None of the people local to the area can make sense of this plan. It was conceived more than a decade ago, put on the back shelf then taken off and put back on the production line without a single revisit.

Apple wouldn't do this with an iPhone, Panasonic wouldn't do it with a television but the county council sees nothing wrong in this approach.

When the design was completed about 12 years back the world was a very different place to how it is today. There is simply no place for the bells and whistles this design brings to the scheme. Whether the finance is coming from the council itself or from central government funding makes not one bit of difference.

It is taxpayers' money and the taxpayer deserves a better deal than to have his money so unwisely spent.

Local people have tried to have discussions with both the council and the contractors but have been met with nothing but high-handed arrogance.

Public inquiry anyone?

M S WIDMER

Leeming Bar.