Letter: Give us trees and a fountain, not a car park

Sir: I applaud your efforts to highlight the lack of pavement cafes in London ('Move that car, a cafe awaits', 26 April). But the problem is more serious than just image.

Spare a thought for the sustenance of millions of tourists plodding wearily around London and confronted largely by sandwich bars, whose idea of a cup of tea is a mixture of tepid water and milk, and sweatshop restaurants whose treatment of customers is more suited to the rearing of battery chickens.

What is worse is that most of these establishments are closed on the weekend. I am talking about the metropolis, not some one- horse town.

It is well known that an army depends on its stomach. So does tourism.

Yours faithfully,

JEFFREY SHARPE

London, W1

28 April