February 27, 2001 10:51: WITH reference to an article in last week's Midweek newspaper, "Tragic Death on Footbridge."

After reading the article through a number of times and believing that Cllr Chris Elliot has been quoted correctly, I cannot believe his statement as reported in your paper.

He said as follows " I'm a district councillor because I want this village to remain a good place to live and I want to my daughters to grow up here in a nice environment and people hanging off bridges does not help".

Does the fact that some unfortunate person took the tragic decision to put an end to his life in Cllr Elliot's area make it any less of a nice area?

Should suicidal people only select less nice surroundings to end their lives?

The decision to write this letter was not taken lightly, but I was incensed that an elected member of our society, a local councillor could make a statement that was so inept, tactless and narrow-minded.

One can only hope that anyone else having suicidal thoughts and feelings would take a few moments to consider how much they would upset the 'locals' when ending their lives.

Larry Parkinson, Hicks Farm Rise, High Wycombe