Dear editor,

I couldn't agree more with Clinton Rogers' article in yesterday's County Gazette.

Other grammatical errors include "none were" instead of "none was", "data was" instead of "data were", and misuse of the word "epicentre" which has a specific scientific meaning.

"Pastoral" and "electoral" are often pronounced with the emphasis on the wrong syllables.

And how often do we see "principle" used instead of "principal" on BBC headlines.

Then there is the frequent mispronunciation of "patent" (should be pronounced "pattent" for the protection of a product invention) and worse still, and totally unforgivable, the mispronunciation of "Avon" for the river and county as the name of a beauty product.

Even local BBC and ITV reporters who should know better do this regularly.

They should be warned and then fired.

I am a professional engineer, but I was taught English properly in the 50s and 60s.

I now spend much of my life screaming at the TV.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks and regards,

David Hawkins

PS never use a preposition to end a sentence with!