LETTER:The menace of power lines

Sir: Tim Dennis points out that we need not worry about the high voltage in our television sets because it is DC (letter, 4 March). The point I was hoping to make was that we get very worried about high voltages when the wires are visible, but do not when they cannot be seen.

The evidence of any link between leukaemia and electromagnetic fields is slender. But that does not mean high-voltage power lines are nice neighbours. No one so far seems to have thought of the psychological effects of these things.

High-power lines exude a feeling of menace. Some people find the march of the towers across the landscape menacing. The crackle of leaking electricity is audible in wet weather. Children have to be warned that they must never get near them. What happens if a wire breaks and comes down across the house?

High voltage lines may not be the direct cause of illness, but they cause a degree of fear in those who have to live under them. It is time that was recognised.

Dr Arthur Tarrant

Twickenham

Middlesex