Sir.-I feel Billie Ponsford, the borough's new smoke-free eating and drinking project officer, is an icon of the dual cultures of waste and nannying that run throughout local government in Basingstoke.

As a smoker, I contribute an enormous amount of money to the exchequer every year. The annual tax yield from tobacco taxes would cover the cost of the NHS many times over.

I do not pay my council tax so that local do-gooders can employ the likes of Ms Ponsford to further their agenda of having us all live to be 100 years old, mired in the miserableness that characterises the anti-smoking lobby.

Surely, the free market approach to this "problem" is the best one.

For example, Wetherspoon's has already pledged to introduce smoke-free pubs, which will allow consumers to choose whether they want a smokey or smoke-free atmosphere.

-Aidan Richardson, Manor Close, Basingstoke.

Sir.-Time is of the essence as the war on smokers is speeding up in Basingstoke.

To all smokers - remember, you have a powerful purchasing power, you are already overtaxed and discriminated against, made to feel like some sort of criminal.

Now the council is spending some of your council tax on making sure your life is even more difficult with appointment of an anti-smoking nanny.

Where bars, cafes, restaurants have anti-smoking policies, make a decision not to patronise those places. Take your money to a more accommodating outlet. Get others to avoid these establishments too.

Check before you book that they care about, and make provision for, smokers. They should all have some space for the smoker.

It's time to fight back before it's too late and the local "nannies" hit us again.

-Name and address withheld