Sir – I was the correspondent (August 27) who had the temerity to challenge Christopher Gray’s description of a three-course dinner costing £69 per head as “luxury you can afford”.

Having in mind the many people in Oxford who struggle to feed their entire families on less than £69 per week, I sought to know to whom his comment was addressed — and now I have my answer.

Mr Gray (Gray Matter, September 12), citing his 40-year experience of writing for The Oxford Times, identifies its regular readers as “people who might feel very tempted to enjoy an evening at the Lords of the Manor” — people, moreover, who would find reviews of inexpensive but well-cooked meals “a little boring”. So now I know my place.

Contrary to Mr Gray’s assumption that I am a “better-off type” presuming to express offence on behalf of the poor, I am a senior citizen living on a pension; I buy my clothes at charity shops, and I don’t own a car.

I have been reading The Oxford Times for as long as he has been writing for it. But no longer: obviously I am not fit to read it.

Catherine M. Robinson, Oxford