I write about the annual outcry over fit young people jumping off Magdalen Bridge in Oxford and into the waters below on May Morning (Oxford Mail, May 2).

Surely the powers-that-be would be better off channelling their time, effort and finances into making the water a safer place to jump into?

It should be cleared of bottles, glass, cans, trolleys, dangerous projectiles like loose masonry, sharp rocks etc, in the course of the 12 months leading up to May 1 every year.

Deepening the river is probably out of the question, I would think, but heavily 'sanding' it would not be an over-expensive alternative, a couple of weeks before the event, either side of the bridge.

Some safety workers could also be recruited, to haul out any strugglers.

It would be far less expensive and feel far less intimidating than the safety forces that have been around this famous spot for the past number of years.

JOSEPH PHELAN

Rose Hill, Oxford