Letter: McStinkers

YES, IT is sad for a community to lose a pub ("March of the Big Mac shuts village pubs", 23 May). But there are worse losses. Since December 1998, when McDonald's took over the old pub next to us, we have lost our gardens, our balconies, and the smells of the seasons. The smell from McD is so offensive, so persistent, so impossible to mask, that it has become a curse, the total negation of our garden's pleasure. The advice from council officers is that residents should talk to McDonald's directly. This we did, we do, and go on doing, to no avail. In the meantime the "march" goes on; McD is seeking permission for yet another outlet in Cambridge - replacing, of course, another pub.

MARIA POLLARD

Cambridge