Now the Government has effectively banned smoking tobacco in this country, responsible citizens should be thinking ahead to further the cause of good health for the nation.

The second biggest killer after cancer is obesity. We should now be lobbying our MPs to to ban all fish and chip shops, traditional "greasy spoon" restaurants and fast (unhealthy) food outlets. This should soon take effect and we would then be looking towards our next objective.

Most of us live in an atmosphere polluted with particulates and gases produced by the internal combustion engine so the banning of all motor vehicles would have an enormous benefit to the health of the nation.

We should not stop there, however. We should outlaw the burning of all types of fossil fuels. This would have the added benefit of reducing the "greenhouse effect", delaying the melting of the icecaps and saving many of us from being flooded out of our chosen places of dwelling.

All of the above could be achieved in a relatively short time. Of course, it will alter our way of life. Millions would be unable to continue working in our present occupations.

All is not lost, however. The recent sharp increase in the value of farmland shows someone has the right idea, as, once all these laws have been passed, our only future will be in homesteading and self-sufficiency - and turning the clock back at least 500 years.

-Victor R Gunther, Shoreham Beach