LETTER : Residents at one with the Wharf

From Ms Rita Bensley

Sir: I am chairman of the Association of Island Communities that represents over 50 community groups on the Isle of Dogs, ranging from pre-school playgroups to senior citizens. Since last Friday, I have been involved almost non-stop trying to assist my fellow residents on the Barkentine estate, which took the full brunt of the IRA bomb, and it angers me to read Jonathan Glancey's comment that "there is no love lost between Canary Wharf and those that live in the Tower blocks and old red-brick estates of Poplar and the Isle of Dogs".

Canary Wharf Ltd has always been very supportive of our community since the start of construction. Within 15 minutes of the blast, Canary Wharf Ltd's community relations manager was at my home to establish the severity of the blast on our estate and on Saturday morning, at the behest of a Canary Wharf director, he was with me all day assessing the impact of the bomb on our community and ways in which they might help.

Yours sincerely,

Rita Bensley

London, E14

15 February