I COULD not believe my eyes when I read the article 'Don't Call Me Mate' (LET, July 24).

What kind of sad person would lodge an official complaint to the ambulance authorities over being called 'mate' -- other than Victor Meldrew of One Foot in the Grave?

I could understand if someone had been given the wrong medication, or had the wrong arm or leg amputated, but this complaint beggars belief.

On a number of occasions, when I have been admitted to hospital suffering from asthma and anxiety attacks, when the ambulance arrived the last thing on my mind was what form of address I was going to be greeted with.

All that concerned me was being put at ease by competent and dedicated personnel.

I would rather be addressed as 'mate,' 'chief,' 'captain,' or 'sunshine' by someone who cared about the patient than 'sir,' insincerely, by someone instructed to do so merely because it has been deemed the 'correct' form of address.

If the patient in question had a particular dislike of the term used, then, surely, a quiet and civilised word with the person concerned would have sufficed.

GEOFF HOWLEY, Dill Hall Lane, Church, Accrington.