LAST Friday at the Haymarket we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Basingstoke Ladies' Choir. It was a memorable evening.

No standard of measurement can quantify the enormous pleasure which the ladies' choir has given to so many people over the years.

Nor should we overlook the thousands of pounds which the choir has raised for local charities and good causes.

THE council is spending £80,000 a year on two graffiti removal units (Friday's Gazette, August 6).

There is no denying the need for this spending.

Like Hannah Williams, a supporter of The Willis Museum, I am "fed-up" with graffiti. I, therefore, warmly welcome the "get-tough" policy which the police and borough council have announced, with the cynical proviso that it has been tried before, with no lasting effect.

I find myself pondering how dysfunctional elements of our society have become and wondering how social and moral values can be reinstated.

I HAVE received a bewilderingly contradictory letter from the Ministry of Defence about the future of the Army training camp at Bramley.

At one point in his letter, the minister tells me that Bramley is one of a number of sites which ultimately may be sold.

At a later point he writes: "I would like to stress that this will not result in the closure of any training areas."

How can a training area be sold without being closed? I am urgently seeking clarification.