15 JANUARY 1983, Page 19

Sir: No disrespect is meant to Greece, but the fact

that the Acropolis is being corroded by pollution and splintered by earlier in- competent restoration does not help Mr Hitchens's arguments on the Elgin Marbles (1 January). If they were removed from the British Museum they woud probably be consigned to a Greek equivalent, hardly enhancing the harmony of the Parthenon. Let them stay in London and make us less the puritan and more the Greek.

C. Sinclair-Poulton 8, Glenbrook Road,