Letter: New air assault on our ears

Sir: Polly Toynbee ("What defence toys really cost us", 9 June) questions the Government's unexpected support for the purchase of 232 Eurofighters.

The noise of low-flying training causes distress over a wide area of northern England, Wales and Scotland and has now been proved to be capable of irreversibly damaging the hearing of children. So where will the Eurofighter be based? At what levels, over whom, will it be doing its daily work-out? Given the superior power of this plane's engine, has anyone asked what sort of noise it will produce? Will it be louder than the Tornado, for instance?

Why has such a huge strategic decision been taken before the much-vaunted Strategic Defence Review has even started? Submissions from the public to the review need to arrive at the MoD by the end of June. It is time the many individuals and local groups concerned with the noise and effect of low-flying left a bit of afterburn of their own.

CLARE TAYLOR

York