20 MARCH 1976, Page 19

Helmets

Sir: There is another important objection to motor-bicycle helmets which Mr Waugh has omitted. (It is true that there seems a connection between these helmets and obesity, judging from the motor-cycle police in this country, but that may after all come from a lack of exercise.) Here motor-cycle helmets are more and more used in bank robberies, for they are less conspicuous than a stocking mask, especially the latest mode which provide a tinted shield against the sun. Not of course that one wants to make things difficult for bank robbers (we had eight in this region last month), for they may keep away tourists who are a pollution problem; but one would like to help the Sikhs.

Graham Greene Antibes