Dear Editor, I thought you may wish to hear from an American point of view about your recent riots and problems.

My wife and I have been talking and planning a trip to England for 10 years. Every time we believed it was going to happen some different ailment or problem arose and we postponed the trip.

Several years ago we met a couple from Halesowen and have become very good friends.

Tickets were purchased for the friendly between England and Holland, hotel reservations made, and the vacation we had planned for was going to happen.

My wife and I arrived on August 6. After a short nap it was off to the Black Country and sightseeing, with a little eating and visiting a few local pubs.

The people immediately greeted us with open arms and made us feel so welcome.

The next day we visited Birmingham and the trouble started.

How weird it was to see the local Santander Bank looted, after I had been there earlier in the day, and the look on everyone’s faces said it all. People run down and killed on the street we had been driving on a few hours earlier.

Most of the people were embarrassed and apologised; we watched the television to find London in chaos and events cancelled, including the football match.