HOW I agree with Ken Adams with regard to the problems caused by lack of public seating. And this not only applies to the elderly or disabled but anyone who has had any kind of injury or surgery.

After two hip replacements, my mother was always distressed and couldn’t understand why there was nowhere to sit in shops.

When I once asked in Next if there was a chair she could sit on, I was told ‘no’, it is not allowed due to health and safety regulations.

Apparently if they supply a chair there is the risk that the customer might sit down and then fall off, making the company liable for damages.

The removal of benches is obviously to deter “gangs of hoodlums” and “down-and-outs”.

So I suppose the only choice you have got is to stay at home forever or carry a fold up camping stool everywhere you go.

MAGGIE ROSS

Belvedere Road, Christchurch

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