I WELCOME Emma Walker’s article (Friday, March 28) concerning the £1m cost of translation incurred by Dorset Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

I wonder how much the costs were for Dorset’s NHS and Social Services?

These charges eventually fall back on us – the tax and rate payers. Meanwhile, at least one more police officer could have been employed to be on the beat.

Having spent nearly ten years living in France, I have personal experience of how they treat foreigners unable to speak French. Whether you wish to speak about planning matters to the mayor, or about a medical problem with your doctor/ specialist, or to seek advice on insurance or provision of the Carte Vitale (state medical cover) you have to speak French – or take someone along with you to do the translation, paying for the service as necessary. The reasoning behind this is simple: if you want to visit and stay in their country then learn their language. I do assure readers that such an attitude gets you to quickly start learning and revising your language skills. I would imagine that the translation costs in the larger and more urban centres in England incur substantially greater charges than those of the Dorset Police and CPS.

I believe that the whole question of the provision of translation services should be looked at by central government as a priority.

David Glossop BEM

UKIP Parliamentary Candidate for West Dorset