Sir – I wanted to thank Christopher Lewis of Christ Church for his letter (August 25) and can assure him that I certainly appreciate efforts by colleges such as his to allow access to local people.

As a member of the Diocese I make frequent use of my card and enjoy the great beauty of both the college and the adjoining meadows.

I do realise of course that colleges are places of study (having been a student myself) but having been in Oxford for over 20 years and enjoyed visiting all the colleges on a regular basis at a time where access was easy and free, I must admit I have never encountered loud, obnoxious or disruptive visitors.

Locals wanting to visit would fall in my experience mostly under the respectable “Civic Society” crowd not mindless hooligans. There will of course always be exceptions to the rule, but these do not seem to justify excluding locals.

I feel perhaps the University could start a scheme for Oxfordshire residents, a card one could apply and pay a small nominal charge of allowing access to all colleges for no fee. The University must make up more than 80 per cent of our beautiful city and as wonderful as the “open days” scheme is, it would take years to visit all the buildings featured at the rate of four or five per weekend.

We are privileged indeed to live in such a rare and stunning urban environment and I only wish more Oxfordshire residents could come to appreciate this.

The glorious architecture and beautiful gardens is to me one of the greatest joys of living in or near Oxford and it too often feels as though locals are treated as undesirable and outsiders. A balance should be struck between ensuring an environment conducive to study for students and widening access to colleges for Oxfordshire residents (Oxfordshire not just Oxford as there is life outside of the city and Oxford is after all our county town).

Cassandra Barrington-Harness, Witney