Local residents have been protesting against the terrible effects of off-road driving near Little Langdale for many years, so we are grateful for your report highlighting this problem (14 August). One further question that needs to be asked about this horrific vandalism in the Lake District concerns the role of the National Trust. The two tracks used by off-road drivers mentioned in your report run through National Trust farms, on land left to it by Beatrix Potter. Her main concern was to preserve this area for future generations, including the sheep farms.

Has the trust completely forgotten its responsibilities?

Fritz Groothues

Little Langdale, Cumbria

• The destruction of green lanes in the Lake District by off-road motorbikes and 4x4s may be legal but it can still be stopped, through the use of traffic regulation orders (TROs). Parliament gave all the national park authorities TRO powers in 2006. Other national parks are using them to good effect. Why is the Lake District National Park Authority not doing the same?

Patricia Stubbs

Chair, Peak District Green Lanes Alliance

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