Is Olympic torch visit vital? (From Craven Herald)

Is Olympic torch visit vital?

9:26am Thursday 5th January 2012 in Letters

Sir – During 2012 we can only hope that nobody falls foul of bad weather or a lost footfall on either the high hills or in a cave somewhere in the Dales, and then has cause to meditate on the image of a bit of tatty metal and a gas canister being paraded through Skipton.

If an accident does occur which leads to someone not being reached in time because the cancellation of the Broughton Show has seriously affected fundraising for the rescue services, maybe the so-called legacy of the Olympics might not be what the organisers intended?

Obviously, the rescue organisations will do their utmost to maintain their services, but the potential for unnecessary failure remains. You do have to ask which is truly most important – the chance to peer for a few brief seconds at a flickering torch as it passes by, or the value of a life which might be extinguished forever?

Alan Sturgess, Gargrave