How predictable that as soon as another successful annual London to Brighton Bike Ride takes place, the Victor Meldrew Literacy Society has its annual bitch and moan.

This time Roger Lee indulges, in my view, in vitriolic abuse and says cyclists should pay road tax and that they damage the roads (Letters, June 19).

Clearly Mr Lee is not aware only about 20 per cent of vehicle tax is spent on the roads.

The other 80 per cent goes into the Chancellor's money pot along with income tax, National Insurance contributions, VAT, stamp duty, inheritance tax, airport taxes etc, paid by everyone - including the people whom Mr Lee claims cycle on the roads "for free".

Government policy is now to tax cars on their engine size and exhaust emissions.

I don't seem able to find an engine and exhaust pipe on my bike. No engine and no emissions equal no road tax.

As for Mr Lee's comments on bicycles damaging the roads, how many does it take to do the same damage as one car or HGV?

One reason for the popularity of the London to Brighton Bike Ride - ignoring the annual £2.5 million it raises for the British Heart Foundation - is that for just one day a year, cyclists can use the roads free from constant intimidation and dangerous driving by arrogant, bigoted motorists who try to excuse their antics by dismissing cyclists as some sort of social security scroungers who cycle on the roads "for free".

Mr Lee needs a better appreciation of economics and the tax system.

Alternatively, if he wants us to all go away so he can drive on "his" roads, 27,000 cyclists, their employers, sponsors, bike shops and all the people with heart disease helped by the British Heart Foundation would all like a tax refund.

-David Bateup, Durrington