Sir On the question of permitting mobile phone masts on school sites, Burford School head Patrick Sanders says: "There's no reason why we shouldn't renew it . . . Nobody will know for many years about the safety of them" (Report, March 31). Quite so: we don't know about the safety of ongoing microwave radiation, and we are not likely to know either way for a very considerable time.

Surely, Mr Sanders is not saying that his pupils should be exposed to such radiation for many years even though we are ignorant of the long-term effects, simply because it's a nice little earner for the school (he mentions £4,000 a year)? I can't see any other way of construing his statement, but perhaps he can tell us.

Meanwhile, somewhat less comically but no less significantly, our paid employees at Oxfordshire County Council are 'not prepared to discuss the issue'. They seem to be labouring under a misapprehension: they are employed to serve us and look after our interests, not t'other way round. Personally, whenever an officious local government functionary tells me that something cannot be discussed, I know there is something serious afoot that should be discussed, and pronto.

John Kinory, Steeple Aston