Sir, I used those same sports fields, back in the 1950/60s, that Jack Loftin refers to in his letters regarding the use of the ‘Letcombe Fields’ name, but unless a developer seeks advice, neither the district, town or parish councils have any control over the use of a name for marketing purposes. The councils do have control over the naming of streets and roads within a development.

As chairman of the Vale of White Horse planning committee. I have tried, on two separate occasions, to persuade Bovis Homes to use a different name, once during the phase one Stockham Farm application and again at the committee meeting for phase two, pointing out that there was already an area in Wantage known as Letcombe Fields and that the development was neither in Letcombe or connected to it and that by using the ‘Letcombe Fields’ name they were causing confusion and upsetting those with a knowledge of the heritage of Wantage and its surroundings.

Robert Sharp Shellingford