ON the fateful Monday evening June 16 I saw a police dog handler apparently scouring the Princetown area by cruising round the Plume of Feathers car park with the dogs barking in the back.

He did not even get out of the car. I thought to myself: ?Why does he drive round this car park with dogs inside the car if he is looking for someone? Surely the dogs can only work outside the car??

I then drove out of Princetown towards Two Bridges and was stopped by the police. ?What is your name, please, sir?? I gave it and had to tell him how to spell it. ?What is your registration number, please, sir?? ?I haven?t got a clue,? I replied. ?Never mind, sir, so many people don?t?. At which point he had a look and wrote it down. ?What is this about?? I asked. ?You will see it in the news, sir?, replied the police officer with a grin all over his face.

I was driving a Range Rover with the boot platform area covered by the courtesy blind. This area could hide two men easily. The police officer made no attempt to search my vehicle or even to try to establish if I was the owner of the vehicle. All this is described as a ?road block? in your article about the jail break.

With two escaped prisoners on the run, might it not have been helpful of the police officer to have suggested that I do not pick up a couple of hitch-hikers? Many tired walkers like a lift back to their cars.

Then I read in your article that the prisoner who was ?crawling along the pavement? had to be handcuffed while being transported to hospital. Such security seems a little heavy handed when the chap was obviously unable to run away. This appears to be security for the police all right.

A stunning statement is made by the spokesman for the Prison Service, reported elsewhere. ?The investigation will be into the incident itself ? how and why . . . ?I would have thought the ?why? was self-evident. The prisoners wanted to get out.

Is this what we as British citizens can expect in the way of help and security from our police? Would you have peace of mind?

David Lacy-Hulbert

Brimstone Down

Chagford