SIR - We should react to the ban on the sale of alcohol at the Hat Fair with some fear - and dismay at the weakness of the organisers.

The police have every right to advise, but a social decision like this lies rightly with our elected representatives.

It may be that there are now so many idiots around who cannot control their alcohol consumption that there is a threat to public safety. However, I doubt it.

The worries of police are inevitably swayed by their self-interest to make their life easier.

In some senses this is right, the police must be seen as citizens' representatives, and we should support them, but only if they are backed by the public's view.

I think most would think that it is a time-honoured tradition for an Englishman to come to an event, imbibe too much, start rocking on his pins, perhaps even have a secretive pee in the bushes, and then fall asleep on the grass of the parks he pays for.

There may be no urinals, occasional disorder may be an issue, but dealing with anti-social behaviour as it takes place is, for me, what we pay the police to do.

The issue of confusion over the alcohol exclusion zone is a smokescreen, this is the Hat Fair, for goodness sake.

The lesson for the Hat Fair organisers may be the real one, they need more stewarding to guard against modern misbehaviour and loutishness. If that costs too much, so be it, the Hat Fair then has a financial issue it can deal with.

We should not confuse that with the more important issue of our liberty to act freely without interference by authorities using false legislative powers rather than common law to decide how we should behave.

Eben Wilson, Alswitha Terrace, King Alfred Place, Winchester.