Until recently, the valley was almost uninhabited and nobody entered in a vehicle. The paddy fields were unused. There were beautiful clean streams and places where the scented ginger plant grew wild. The old villages have shady trees for shelter from the sun. The valley was crossed by numerous narrow footpaths.

Now this tranquil, beautiful scene has changed. During holidays Hong Kong yuppies assault the defenceless valley with their four-wheel drive cars, criss-crossing the unresisting green earth with wide swathes of tyre tracks, breaking the footpaths and polluting the streams and the air. The noise is intolerable.

I hope the noise will eventually wake up the Government to stop this horrible process by which the innocent valley is robbed of the one thing that makes it valuable.

W A CRAWLEY New Territories