I EXTEND heartfelt sympathies to Vanda Tor (Letters, June 21) for the plight that she and fellow health food consumers find themselves due to the imposition on the UK of the EU directive on dietary supplements.

Vanda, I'm afraid, is learning the hard way that the EU rules by edict -- completely by-passing Westminster.

The effect of new laws, for which the pharmaceutical industry has been lobbying for years, places all herbal medicines, vitamins and minerals on the same regulatory basis as mass-market drugs.

More than 8,000 products used by millions of UK customers will vanish from the shelves. More than 604 million signatures from around the world have been sent to Brussels demanding free and unfettered access to natural remedies for the people of the EU.

If all the 87 British MEPs had voted together, which they never ever do, they would not have made the slightest impact on the outcome of this outrageous EU directive.

I hope the people of the North West will recall the threat to Vanda's right to choose her own health regime and the impotence of our own government during the Euro elections next year.

VAL COWELL, North West Press Officer, UK Independence Party, Northwood Way, Poulton le Fylde.