I have recently returned from a fortnight’s holiday in Malta. My reasons for visiting your island were two-fold – your unequalled archaeological sites and your excellent seafood. I was disappointed by neither.

Unfortunately, I was woken each morning at 6.30am by the sound of gunfire. The effect was more of a battle zone than of a holiday resort. Also the shooting, though somewhat less, continued all day. The sight of the hunters’ hides and of armed hunters themselves, visible from footpaths and even the causeway between the temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, was very daunting. All this completely spoiled my holiday to such an extent that I have no intention of returning to Malta, and I shall do my best to dissuade my friends from visiting Malta.

All of the above will serve to underline the anxieties about the effect of hunting upon tourism set out in the leader Hunting and Tourism (TMID 27 April).

It is a great pity that the actions of a minority should so spoil things.

It might be beneficial to reflect upon the great boost to tourism in the British Lake District resulting from a pair of nesting ospreys and the provision of special viewing hides and closed circuit television. Surely something similar could happen in Malta with some of your more exotic birds. For example, I have never seen a spoonbill in the wild and would happily travel to see one.

Anne McChesney

ENGLAND