I am dismayed at East Sussex Fire Authority's problem with Kate Reid, the female firefighter who was too little to do the job.

The fire authority has only itself to blame for recruiting such a small, unsuitable person in the first place.

Part of this little person's complaint is she had to use a ladder to reach the top of the appliance she was supposed to clean and could not find uniform clothing small enough for her.

Because of her lack of strength, a male colleague suffered an injury while lifting a ladder with her.

Presumably, she would also have difficulty in finding a small enough victim to save in the event of being required to rescue someone.

Part of my present duties requires me to visit East Sussex fire stations to carry out equipment safety examinations.

I am a six-footer and even I would need to stand on a set of steps to reach the top of a fire appliance if I was required to clean it.

I also weigh 15 stone and if this little person was required to rescue me it would seem I would just have to burn, being too big to rescue.

It is now time all authorities in all essential services draw a line under the financially forced restrictions imposed upon them by political requirements and go back to recruiting the proper persons for the job in hand, since all have been victim to lawsuits by unsuitable persons.

In some previous cases, other authorities have been sued as a result of planned lawsuits by similar unsuitable persons who enlisted and were accepted into unsuitable jobs simply as a means to extract "compensation" for lost "careers". Cynic, moi?

You had better believe it.

-Rod Ackers, Lucerne Close, Portslade