Sir - In response to Michael Goldacre's letter (March 21) regarding bus shelters in Oxford, the new arrangements will see many more bus shelters across the city in the next five years.

Mr Goldacre's letter implies that all the new shelters will carry advertising.

This is not the case, as only 60 per cent of the shelters have received advertisement consent.

By allowing some shelters to carry adverts, more shelters can be provided, cleaned and maintained by the company, at no financial expense to Oxford City Council. For those shelters that received advertisement consent, applications were submitted to and assessed by the planning department in the same way as through the normal planning application process. The council carried out normal public consultation and the opportunity existed to object or comment either as an individual, through local councillors or via the cross-party area committee process. Following objections at the time, some of the applications were withdrawn.

Those that achieved advertisement consent did so through a transparent, accountable process.

Two designs were discussed with the planning department to ensure consistency throughout all areas of the city. The insignia shelters are Oxford Blue with grey seats and mid rails.

The landmark shelters in the city centre and conservation areas are silver, with Oxford Blue mid rails and seats to tie in with the insignia design.

The colours were selected to provide branding throughout the city. Oxford Blue is used throughout Oxford (for example, on many of the fingerpost signs) and the grey and silver offer a good contrast recommended under the Disability Discrimination Act.

I hope when your readers notice these new shelters, they will agree that they are smart, not too obtrusive and provide useful shelter to the benefit of Oxford's many bus users across the city.

Colin Bailey, Head of City Works, Oxford City Council