Cruel to be kind­

I was pleased to read John Sands' words of praise for Camra's first National Pubs Week (Morning Advertiser "My Shout" 27 February). It is reassuring that thousands of pubs across the land got behind the campaign, including many run by Pubmaster. John did, however, question the logic of using negative headlines about the number of pub closures in order to grab media attention. The sad fact is that the British media does not respond well to "fluffy" good news stories that all is well in the world. To get people listening to your real message, you sometimes have to grab their attention with facts which are "shocking" but true, such as "20 pubs a month are closing" or "27% of people never use pubs". In our subsequent dealings with the media, we have been very careful to get across the positives about pub-going, such as their undisputable importance as community amenities. Indeed, in certain regions, such as the north-west of England, our stories about pub-going trends did use positive headlines to reflect our research findings. The reason Camra is holding a National Pubs Week is to do our bit to deal with the fact that, like it or not, some pubs are closing, and that a key reason for that is because many people don't use them. Pubs Week is designed to be a wake-up call which will encourage licensees to be proactive in promoting their businesses and hopefully encourage the British public to visit pubs more often. National Pubs Week is set to benefit the whole trade and we have been successful in getting people to think and talk about what they stand to lose if they don't use their local. Camra is looking forward to building on the success of this year's event to make National Pubs Week even bigger next year and beyond, hopefully in partnership with Pubmaster and other pub companies. Indeed, nothing would please us more than making Pubs Week an event that the whole industry gets behind. As a consumer group which doesn't run pubs, and with severely limited funds, we can only achieve so much. It is only through partnerships with pub owners that National Pubs Week will truly reach its objective of getting people to use pubs more. Mike Benner Head of Campaigns and Communications Campaign for Real Ale St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 4LW Termination taken to task I write regarding the article inthe Morning Advertiser on 20 February entitled "Four stages of a tenancy ­ Newton's Law of Repair Decorations and Dilapidations". As a member of the Property Litigation Association I read your article with interest. I think the article generally was very informative but felt that there were some material errors in its final paragraph headed "termination". The draft pre-action protocol in relation to dilapidation claims has not yet been incorporated into the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. The draft was prepared by the RICS and the Property Litigation Association jointly. It has been submitted to the Lord Chancellor's Department. Until it is formally recognised, it is not binding on parties to a lease. Your statement that the original survey would remind both parties as to the condition ofthe property on day one of the agreement, was, I think, misleading. The condition of the property on day one of the agreement is only relevant where the duty to repair is limited by a schedule of condition. In general, leases oblige tenants to keep the property in repair. However, the courts have found that "keep" also obliges the tenant to put the premises into repair if they are not in repair at the start of the lease. Rob Hastie Partner Property Litigation Gosschalks Solicitors Queens Gardens Hull HU1 3DZ Thanks for key support Mr Ray Scarbrow, Licensed Victuallers National Homes chairman and Mrs Pam Savage, chairman of LVNH Central Fundraising Council, would like to thank the members of the wholesale and allied trades and all the loyal supporters who attended our Annual Change of Keys Ceremony and Luncheon on 25 February at the Royal National Hotel in London Mr Ray Scarbrowand Mrs Pam Savage Licensed Victuallers National Homes chairman andLicensed Victuallers National Homes chairman CFC LVNH Denham Garden Village Denham Green Lane Denham Uxbridge Middlesex UB9 5LB