• I’M responding to Alan Mark’s letter (What mean city charges for a swim? March 5), comparing the proposed charges for swimming in the “murky” Heath ponds to free outdoor swimming in Toronto and elsewhere.

I happily pay £120 (pensioner rate) to swim daily all-year round at Parliament Hill Fields lido, enjoying the brilliant service provided by manager Paul Jeal and his lifeguards.

I refuse to swim in the murky, unappetising Hampstead Men’s Pond which has no hot showers and where rats can be frequently spotted near the water’s edge.

In contrast I am happy, and lucky enough to be able to enjoy annual summer holiday swims in “lidos” which are vast, roped-off (and life-guarded) areas of the crystal clear, turquoise lakes of Brienz, Thun and Lucerne in Switzerland. All of these facilities are free of charge, funded by the relevant cantons.

There is a bigger picture here way beyond clear and murky water; your correspondent Mr Mark is so right when he refers to the Corporation of London being mean-spirited, only interested in making money.

This is yet another example of rip-off Britain. In London we pay the highest price for public transport in western Europe for arguably the worst service, compared with Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Zurich and so on where residents pay much less for their travel.

It makes me ashamed to be British.

MICHAEL KAHN,
Enfield