Lertter: Please allow Sir Cliff to have a moment of informal fun

Sir: While your staff may cringe at the sight and sound of Sir Cliff he has maintained his popularity with the general public for more than three decades. Surely he should be admired for his continuing talent, stamina and business acumen, along with his dedication to charitable works - the latter being, I believe, the reason for his knighthood, rather than his services to the music industry.

There is nothing naff about a man who has visited some of the poorest places on earth: encouraging medics to battle against malnutrition and disease in Bangladesh, sitting at the bedsides of patients dying from Aids in Uganda, trekking through Kenya with Masai warriors, and bringing hope to thousands of impoverished children in Haiti. Allow him a moment of informal fun now and again, please.

SHIRLEY COLLINS

Tear Fund

Teddington, Middlesex