M J BOWDEN, of Ridge Hill, Dartmouth, writes:

The new slipway that many of us have been campaigning for for many years is now on hold because the good old quango Natural England has added significantly to the cost of the project to protect some worms or other creatures.

I believe the cost was in the region of £300,000, then £400,000 – now even more.

Added to that, because of the extra cost the slip will be smaller than originally envisaged.

It is a good job they were not around during the Second World War or they would not have allowed several massive slips to be built for landing craft for the allied invasion of Normandy.

Let us hope that one day we will see a new slipway in the not too distant future.