WHILE I realise there are many who love sport and dearly want us to hold the Olympics, I deplore the obscene waste of tens of millions of pounds spent on temporary venues.

One, I believe, is the venue for the rifle shooting and archery. This is being held in a temporary venue and is costing tens of millions to erect, and then will be taken down afterwards, leaving no legacy for people to enjoy.

Bisley has been mentioned as an alternative. However, this has been turned down because the contestants (poor dears) will find the travel too exhausting and these faceless Olympic officials do not think it is up to holding the event.

If that is the case, accommodate contestants closer to the venues they are to compete in, and if the tens of millions were poured into Bisley it would make it a venue of international envy.

One sport is being held on Horseguards Parade or somewhere similar, and the horse events are being held in some beautiful local park, I believe.

Advise the bunch of Olympic officials who swan into our city telling people, who know rather better than they do, how the host city is to organise their transport and roads so that they can get to events with little trouble, to set off earlier like the rest of us do.

Did you see the width of the roads in Vancouver and Beijing when they were on TV?

Am I the only one who sees this or are there others who feel the same?

It is good for those who love sport but please do not lose sight of the fact that tens of millions are being wasted on temporary venues, not to mention some of our tourist attractions within the capital being inaccessible for the ordinary tourist for weeks, as well as the damage caused by people attending these functions and the machinery used to erect and take them down.

As for myself, I am looking for a long holiday away from England when this madness of sport is being held, and will leave it to those who enjoy seeing their money going up in smoke, faceless officials feasting on our largesse and, hopefully, Britain winning many gold medals.

PATRICIA SALTER

Hayes Via email