AS a keen football fan I have watched with interest the levelling of Ruspidge's notorious sloping pitch.

Can I first say what a splendid job the contractors seem to have done within their remit.

However, I have to ask: Has a "white elephant" been created?

I refer to the size of the surface. The minimum pitch width (and I checked on a search engine before writing) is 50 yards (45m).  Now that a fence has been erected at one end, the panels make it possible to estimate the width. I would be surprised if the whole surface is more than 48 yards wide. Let us be optimistic and assume 50 yards. The touchlines cannot be drawn right at the base of the bank (roadside) or on the brink of the – quite extreme – drop on the far side.

I cannot see a linesman running at speed in a narrow space atop a steep drop, so at least a couple of yards of space would be lost on the far side. Take away another yard on the road side. I'll let others do the maths.

I stress that my calculations are based on a guesstimate. I hope that someone with a tape can allay my concerns. I would hate to see the village end up with a flat pitch that couldn't be played on.

– Ann Bath, Ruspidge.