• HALLS and fire precautions are often in the news (Town Hall leader clashes with Gove over fire safety in homes, August 24) but when there are so many genuine areas for concern, why is it that the Camden Council leader and chief executive are obsessed with the fire hazard that they imagine exists in council hallways?

Nobody lives in the hall and residents only occasionally pass through. There are no fire threats in these areas apart from the electrical intake space which is always rigorously built and safe. Fire will always be initiated in a flat and by the time it has spread to the hall the house is likely to be in a bad state.

Why then are officials paranoid about a mirror or picture hanging on the wall or the threat of mail which has just been posted through the letter box? They must provide the fire risk assessment of hallways.

If the council’s leader Georgia Gould and chief executive Jenny Rowlands have been weeping all night with worry at the thought of a fire starting in halls, and their pillow cases are crunchy with the resulting salt accumulation, then maybe it would help if they were to stop refusing to fit in these areas a fire extinguisher.

PETER RUTHERFORD
Pandora Road, NW6