Your reporting of an aggrieved pensioner who could not use his ‘free’ (more accurately, free to him but not to local government) bus pass before 9am to travel to hospital for state funded treatment is a most regrettable indication of the something-for-nothing attitude becoming all too prevalent amongst my generation.

Leaving aside the more recent but similarly damaging to the wider community free swimming for we wrinklies debate, what on earth is the sense of issuing free bus passes simply on the bases of age.

Surely such state funded assistance should be directed at the ‘have nots’ and not the goodly number of ‘haves’ amongst the over 60s.

These ‘haves’ can well afford to pay for bus travel (and swimming), particularly as very many of them did not use a bus at all before the tax payer forked out for their undoubtedly welcome but unnecessary freebee.

Whilst remaining cynical about the vote seeking reason for the introduction of ‘free’ gifts to we grey pounders, I'm frankly embarrassed and not a little ashamed at extent of the uptake by those who manifestly do not need such a back-hander from the government.

Your reader who so bitterly complained about having the pay the £1.60 full adult fair being just one more sad example my age group are setting for the generations which follow us.

With the above in mind, I hope that those who needlessly take advantage of free bus passes and swimming are never ever heard to raise their voices in protest at the level of ‘sponging off the state’ taking place elsewhere in society.

Tony Mason, Portland Road.