PLEASE keep your letters to 250 words maximum giving your name, address and daytime telephone number - even on emails. Email: letters@swindonadvertiser.co.uk. Write: Swindon Advertiser, 100 Victoria Road, Swindon, SN1 3BE. Phone: 01793 501806.

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

The shock of summer

SUMMER’S here! Trees, shrubs, and hedges tremble when they hear the roar of the hedge cutting machines approaching.

One can almost hear them scream in terror: “the cutters are here”!

Birds flee, squirrels scramble, spiders’ webs shake violently.

Little wonder.

A gentle stroll about west Swindon reveals all: trees and hedges are not trimmed by tender loving skilled hands. Alas, no!

After the machines have rampaged through the terrain, plants remain not neatly trimmed but mutilated – as if a vicious, unrelenting storm has passed over with gale force winds, thunder and lightning.

The poor ‘trimmed’ trees and hedges stand with heads bowed in shame, with limbs here and there snapped or half torn off; some held up in surrender; standing naked, undignified, inviting pity.

Shakespeare’s “poor darling buds of May”, even poorer now it seems, as the stormtroopers head towards their next victims, already numb.

Welcome to Swindon.

JEFF ADAMS

Bloomsbury Close

Swindon

....

Proud of football girls

HOW wonderful to read the news about teenage girls from Swindon lifting the football trophy at the biggest youth tournament in the world (Adver, July 25).

The World Youth Cup held in Gothia, Sweden, saw youngsters from all over the world competing to be named the best of the best.

However, it was our girls who brought home the silverware.

All of us should be so proud of these talented and determined young ladies of Swindon Town Football In The Community Under-14 team – they are a credit to their town.

ROSEMARY P. DUFF

Old Town

Swindon

....

Talent spotting at Euros

IS IT true that Swindon Town chairman Lee Power was at the Euros Final in France on July 10 – ‘talent spotting’?

I would not have thought that there were many loan signings on show, would you?

But they do say that Mr Lee Power, in the crowd, did get his wallet out of his pocket.

That’s why there were moths all over the pitch – got one in the face of Ronaldo.

Thank you, love reading your letters page, keep it up.

G BELCHER

Highworth Road

Swindon

....

Beware of scammers

I WANT to alert other Adver readers to the dangers of selling items on ebay.

I recently advertised a high-end item for sale on the site and literally within minutes it was ‘sold’ to a buyer listed as being in the UK.

However, when the ‘buyer’ made contact the shipping address provided was in Nigeria. I then received an email from ‘support@paypal’ and while at first glance it looked legitimate, on closer inspection it was littered with spelling errors.

The email stated that the money had been paid but was being held by PayPal until I provided a tracking number as ‘Prove (sic) of Shipment’.

I immediately notified both ebay and PayPal, and it was quickly confirmed by PayPal to be a scam.

Always check before just posting off something you were hoping to be paid for!

KAREN MAGEE

Swindon