10 NOVEMBER 1984, Page 22

Expense-picking

Sir: I applaud Charles Moore's call for the return of civilised order to the mining villages (Politics, 27 October), but I would suggest a more useful white-collar equiva- lent to the coal-pickers of Grimethorpe. Surely a more realistid. comparison to this crime is the additional income generated by some from the expense account. After all, the fraudulent use of this benefit already occurs and we do not have to wait for the bank clerks of Dorking to start raiding their cash-dispensers. It is rather naive to suggest that only miners and northerners create such euphemisms for theft.

Tim Jackaman

181 High Street, Codicote, Hertfordshire