IT was obvious that Phillip Whidden (Letters, October 9), is a non-smoker, for he failed to highlight the main reason why cigarette companies have not as yet introduced a product which is "90 per cent less likely to start a fire if dropped."

Apart from the reason given by Mr Whidden, and as well as incurring increased manufacturing costs, they would also experience a large reduction in sales due to smokers not needing to purchase as many cigarettes.

I for one would welcome the introduction of such cigarettes, not because it would stop me smoking, but because it would reduce the cost. Well, how many times have we smokers put a cigarette down safely in an ashtray, only to have been distracted by something and ended up with a smouldering stub?

I just wish all the non-smoking "do gooders" would stop jumping on an easy bandwagon and attacking smokers, the vast majority of whom do so with safety at home utmost in our minds.

GRAHAM HARRISON, Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.