Sir – Today (January 8) pavements are still treacherous in Oxford, both in the centre and suburbs. It has snowed in Oxford in 2007 and 2008, as well as now, so snow is not an occasional occurrence.

Your front page article with comments from the county council spokesman and the leader Keith Mitchell, as well as from a solicitor in Henley, raise a number of important points. So does the letter from Lynn Gardiner.

On the face of it I find it absurd that a person would be in a position to sue when a householder has tried to clear a path.

Common sense would suggest they had more cause for complaint if no action had been taken to clear it. Finally, if we are concerned about the cost to the public purse, I wonder how many people will have arrived at the John Radcliffe Hospital needing treatment following falls, by the time the snow and ice have gone away.

Janet Toye, Oxford