Sir – As a reply to people concerned about the cost of the new animal facility in Oxford, I think it must be kept in mind that the reasons the lab was built are not merely to reduce the costs of bringing the inefficient system of having various facilities spaced out around Oxford under one roof. This is indeed true, but I think it needs to be pointed out the huge gains in terms of animal welfare that come out of this lab. All the animal facilities currently in place in Oxford obviously adhere to the Home Office guidelines for animal welfare, but huge effort has been put into this lab to increase the quality of life experienced by the laboratory animals.

Particularly it must be said for the primate facilities, offering clean, spacious environments for the primates, allowing play and interaction with others of their species, and regular access to natural light, and even giving them viewing of the comings and goings of the lab by making “window seats” in their enclosures, looking out on to the corridor. Surely nobody can argue the justification of spending even a very large sum of money if this results in better quality of life and welfare for the animals we use in our research.

But on a financial note, as this is bviously still a consideration, quite a lot of money is going to be saved every year by bringing all of the animal research in one building.

Finally, and very importantly, there is the security issue. Unfortunately facilities conducting animal research are subject to security risks due to a minority of violent activists. One of the excellent developments in the new building is having an incredibly high level of security, which will benefit both animals and staff.

Matthew Evans, Magdalen College, Oxford