Your article (France to deploy sniffer dogs to inspect train seats for bedbugs, 4 October) reminded me of an aunt’s experience when she complained about bedbugs after a journey on a British Rail sleeper train. Back came an effusive letter of apology, saying “this has never happened before”. Accidentally included with the apology was the original letter of complaint, on which was scribbled “send usual bedbug letter”.
Roger Wilkinson
Leasgill, Cumbria
• How lovely to see a scarlet pimpernel (Country diary, 6 October). In my childhood in Essex in the 1950s they were everywhere. Now, in Warwickshire, I hardly ever see them. The Wildlife Trusts website says they are “in decline due to intensive agricultural practices”.
Pam Lunn
Kenilworth, Warwickshire
• The Guardian style guide says gift is “not a verb (unless, perhaps, directly quoting a football manager or player: ‘We gifted Barnsley their fifth goal’)”. Unfortunately, a full-page advert for the Guardian Weekly in G2 (3 October) failed to heed this advice three times.
Desmond Painter
Bournemouth, Dorset
• We know Rishi Sunak disapproves of some degrees, but surely he will like the superyacht design course offered by Solent University (British university offers master’s degree in magic and the occult, 4 October).
Elizabeth Pearson
New Barnet, London
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