WE write with regard to David Walters s letter (November 12) concerning a St Ives shopkeeper who keeps his shop door open. In our view whatever your opinions or preferences, however well intentioned, you should not impose them on others. Personally, we do

WE write with regard to David Walters's letter (November 12) concerning a St Ives shopkeeper who keeps his shop door open. In our view whatever your opinions or preferences, however well intentioned, you should not impose them on others.

Personally, we don't care for many things, such as men with black shoes and white socks, anybody smoking, youngsters with car windows open and loud music blaring, celebrities that aren't, large hooped earrings, pubs with no beer, men with grey shoes, parking in disabled bays without the requisite qualification, busy-bodies, being addressed as "guys" whenever we enter a bar or restaurant, people who say "see you later" when the prospect of that actually occurring is quite remote, politicians, adding lemonade to whisky or lime to good lager, Welsh road signs when everyone understands English, children in pushchairs eating crisps ... we could go on.

These are obviously our personal feelings and probably best kept to ourselves, but you can imagine what could result if we went around imposing them on others.

So, we don't think anyone should close shop doors if the shopkeeper wants them left open - certainly not without gaining permission in advance.

We are shopkeepers and have good reason to keep our doors open. It is a great bonus for the disabled or those pushing a pram, pushchair or shopping trolley, as well as being far more welcoming. A closed door is a barrier, and an open door encourages the general public to enter. In these difficult times we think anything that encourages shoppers is to be recommended.

TOM and MAUREEN O'CONNELL

The Whistlers

St Ives