YP Letters: Happy ending to Tenerife holiday theft saga thanks to kindness of strangers from Finland

From: David R Sampson, Skipsea.

IN November 2015 my wife and I were on holiday in Tenerife, and as usual we hired a car for a few days.

One of our favourite places to visit is Masca, where the road into the village is a series of hairpin bends. On our way out, we stopped at a viewing area while my wife went to take some photos. During the few minutes we were there my wife’s purse was stolen from inside her handbag which was in the locked car, while I was never more than 10 yards from the car.

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After getting back to our hotel, we let the credit card companies know what was stolen as well as our insurance company, and the hotel helped us to speak to an English speaking police officer. After giving a statement, the police believed it to be a professional Romanian gang (two men and two women) who they were trying to catch.

However, at the end of January, I received a letter from a man from Finland, who had just returned from Tenerife.

In that letter (very good English) was my wife’s credit card and my driving licence along with a memory card for a phone which was not ours.

I knew my driving licence was not where it should have been but did not realise it had been stolen.

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Apparently this man had found our belongings at the side of the road near Masca along with our hotel cards and even visited the hotel to see if we were still there to return them to us.

If everyone had the same attitude as this man from Finland, wouldn’t the world be a happier place?

Referendum on the Scots

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

SCOTLAND’S independence losers Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond both keep rabbiting on about Scotland demanding another referendum if the rest of the UK votes to leave the EU, assuming that Scottish voters are for staying in.

Why not ask the English, Welsh and Northern Irish on the same EU referendum ballot paper whether or not they want Scotland to remain in the Union or whether they should be allowed their “independence” to be ruled by the EU?

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This may save a lot of time, money and ear-bashing from the crowd who want independence from the Sassenachs at all costs but not from the EU, which appears rather strange.

Ask any Scot the question “what’s good about England?” and the answer in 99 per cent of cases will be “the road leading back to Scotland”. Start rebuilding Hadrian’s Wall! Using English labour of course.

Joined-up thinking

From: Coun Nick Allen (Con), Bessacarr ward, Doncaster Council

THE Yorkshire Post’s #2016hours campaign should be commended (The Yorkshire Post, February 13). I think it is a really excellent way to bring people together.

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The obstacle which needs to be overcome is a tendency to treat each case individually.

Therefore policies which recognise loneliness, and its impact on the community as a whole, are necessary. I know Doncaster Council’s policies in that area have linked lots of agencies together. Other policies, including social prescribing, have started to make an impact.

Gravity of the situation

From: Elisabeth Baker, Leeds.

I WAS delighted to read (The Yorkshire Post, February 12) that, contrary to popular belief, Albert Einstein not only did not die in 1955 but that he is still mentally active. I was informed of this in the caption to the picture of him in the article about gravity waves, which says that it is a photograph of “Albert Einstein, who has seen his mathematical speculations proved correct once again”.

How wonderful!

Measuring happiness

From: Geoff Wood, Tholthorpe, York.

ALTHOUGH in our 80s, and a little outside the York University survey range, my wife is as happy as Larry and I’m as happy as a sand boy. By what standard is happiness (The Yorkshire Post, February 17) measured in other parts of the world and how does it compare with ours?

Ginger nut famine latest

From: Fiona Lemmon, Clifton, Maltby, Rotherham.

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JOHN Springer is, indeed, correct, that the recent devastating floods have caused the biscuit shortage (The Yorkshire Post, February 17).

When shopping at a supermarket today which actually had a good supply of custard creams, I spotted a small sign on the shelves attributing the lack of stock and choice of biscuits to the flooding.

Like Mr Springer’s fellow correspondent Lesley Burrow, I’m having withdrawal symptoms at not being able to purchase ginger nuts. As a plus point, however, perhaps our waistlines will benefit.

Tree planting to slow floods

From: Nick Yates, Brighouse.

IT is with great pleasure that I hear that, with the support of the Woodland Trust, we are to plant several thousand trees in the uplands of Calderdale to impede future flood water.

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The density of trees in Calderdale is well below the European and English average, and it is important that we conserve them and plant more.

Calderdale Council should also support further tree planting in our towns and villages where their presence can be appreciated on a daily basis.