Sir – I agree with your correspondent who felt that it would be a gratuitous waste of money to change the pavements in North Parade in order to encourage shoppers (Letters, January 22).

The photograph of the street shows exceptionally beautiful Victorian stone kerbs and cobblestones. This vintage York stone is very expensive and much sought after, and a modern replacement would be a travesty. It is exceptionally wasteful to spend money ruining something which is already perfect. If there is £50,000 going spare, why not give it to the traders to form an association to drum up business. Changing pavements is not necessarily the answer to encourage more shoppers.

Susan Thomas, Oxford