MS Rowena Mitchell (Letters, September 20) conjures up a vivid picture of a lady attiring herself prior to appearing in public and saying to herself: "I must take care to look shabby, lest I be verbally attacked by groups of youths or leered at by dirty old men."

I am particularly interested in the second of these two possibilities. I wonder at what stage an admiring glance at a well-dressed woman, particularly if she is beautiful, becomes a leer, and I wonder, too, at what age the perpetrator qualifies for the adjective 'dirty.'

Regrettably, I feel that I must have been in this age group for some time. I can only say that since I am too feeble to attack a woman physically and too polite to attack her verbally, I must continue to content myself with the occasional leer, promising, however, to make it as inconspicuous as possible.

T LONGSTAFF, Gorse Road, Blackburn.