RWE npower's temporary deferral of filling Thrupp Lake, while welcome, offers no long-term guarantee that the lake is safe.

Local people are still faced with the prospect of many tens of thousands of pounds expended on legal fees to get the area registered as a town green to protect it.

Everyone, including RWE npower, would surely prefer that this money should be spent on acquiring and restoring the lakes for the benefit of ourselves and generations to come.

If RWE npower could only commit itself not to use Thrupp Lake ever, and to secure the future of these lakes, it would save everyone, including itself, a lot of unnecessary trouble and expense, and it would go a long way indeed towards restoring the company's reputation in this community.

MARJORIE WHITE Cherwell Close Abingdon