WHAT good and sensible comments Graham McCartney, Assistant Chief Probation Officer for Oxfordshire, made about the plans for a new ‘mega’ probabtion centre in Mill Street (Oxford Mail, May 4).

Let me quote him: “We have no evidence at all that crime increases around the location of a probation office.”

Those of us against this unwarranted protest already knew this.

So, Mill Street protesters, let me state three important facts to alleviate your fears: 1. There will not be 350 offenders marching up and down Mill Street every day, causing problems.

2. No, they will not be eating the children.

3. The ludicrous claim that 100,000 offenders will be coming to Mill Street every year is simply untrue.

What the Mill Street protesters need to do now is to take a step back and reflect on these facts.

Their elected leaders, Susanna Pressel, who we rarely see around this area, and Dr Evan Harris, who we never see here, should bring this debate to a halt.

The problem is that the protesters have whipped themselves up into such a furore, they probably won’t be able to see through the red mist.

Think of the benefits the probation centre will bring to our area. Firstly, the rest of Oxford will look to us in admiration and respect. They will know that at last there are people who are tolerant and forward-thinking.

We will be a leading light, and hopefully might let other nimbys around Oxford learn to accept change – and not protest just for the sake of it.

STEVE SMITH, Gibbs Crescent, Osney, Oxford