The sad and disgusting event resulting in an elderly man who was where he was entitled to be being attacked by a cyclist who was where he should not have been has undoubtedly come about as the result of poor policing and the total neglect in enforcing the law, with or without the encouragement of the Home Office.

The current state of affairs on the pavements is, unfortunately, to be expected due to an appalling lack of consideration and respect for pedestrians, especially the elderly, infirm and disabled, by councils and the police.

Common sense (and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of that about) should be sufficient to predict that cyclists and pedestrians cannot safely coexist on pavements which are designed to be the domain of walkers because, sadly, there will always be some who are selfish, inconsiderate and ignorant believing that they are, or should be, allowed to do what they want to do simply because they want to do it.

They are the ones who bleat on about their own safety and are quite happy with the purpose of preserving that even if it puts others a risk.

I am neither pro-motorist or anti-cyclist but the road is the place for transport and if all road users obeyed the rules and exercised care and consideration for each other instead of expecting it just for themselves, there would be no problem.

Robert Tuck, Corfe Mullen