AU CONTRAIRE, Jeremy Moulton, many of us love watching the skateboarders in Guildhall Square.

They bring a dull, grey, featureless square to life with their breathtaking skill and agility and their dynamic, acrobatic movements are often captured on camera by tourists and visitors to the city.

More culture here, dare I suggest, than in all the chain restaurants with their neon signs.

The younger generation is constantly criticised for spending too much time in front of screens and too little taking exercise, building up problems for the future yet these youngsters, engaging in healthy exercise, Jeremy seeks to take action against. Obesity is a serious health problem yet not an obese skateboarder to be seen.

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As for damaging the paving slabs, this must be very minor compared with the terrible damage caused by vehicles to the slabs in Above Bar, resulting in an expensive repair bill for council tax-payers.

Admittedly there is some damage to the stone seats, but these are so hard, cold and uncomfortable to sit on that no-one who has a nearby alternative uses them for this purpose. They serve a much better use as props for the skateboarders.

I regularly cycle and walk in Guildhall Square and have never been inconvenienced by skateboarders. If they are making movement around and through the square difficult for some members of the public, perhaps a sensible compromise would be a code of conduct that skateboarders would be encouraged to sign up to.

Guildhall Square was designed at the start as a “shared space”, with cycling and scooting permitted; it has never been a “pedestrian” square as Jeremy describes it.

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Jeremy has done sterling work in other areas, particularly in highlighting the air quality problem in the city; it would be good if he continued to spend time on these serious life-threatening issues, which cause such damage to the lives of Southampton residents, and left the skateboarders to continue entertaining the rest of us.

Lindsi Bluemel

Southampton