Sir, On May 5, you were kind enough to publish a letter from me on my attempts over the past year to persuade the Vale of White Horse District Council to find a way to restore the lighting on the magnificent spire of the church of St Helen in Abingdon, which had had to be extinguished because of concerns about light pollution. I am pleased to report, first, that having forwarded a copy of the letter to the chief executive, I received a reply back from him on May 11 announcing that his colleagues had found a way forward and that an order had been placed for the appropriate lighting and, second, that last Friday the first array of new lights was turned on. This bathes the north-facing side of the spire in an almost ethereal light.

When the southern array is completed, this will be a vast improvement on the old high-energy floodlighting. The Vale is to be congratulated for this timely response to public concern, and The Oxford Times for its decision to publish this letter.

Michael Hocken, Abingdon