Letter: Plastic windows on a listed building

Sir: I find it difficult to believe that the Greens, who put pvc double-glazed windows into their Grade II listed cottage, were really satisfied with the result. Timber copies of the original windows with real glazing bars would have cost less, worked just as well and looked terrific.

Much of the charm of these old houses is in the harmony of the materials. The right windows give the house its character. Plastic windows with fake glazing bars on an old cottage are simply out of keeping. Would Mr and Mrs Green put plastic knobs on their Sheraton sideboard?

We are all agreed that planning authorities allow some terrible new buildings, but pillorying them in your leading articles as insensitive bureaucrats is unlikely to encourage them to take the necessary steps to ensure that the owners of nice old buildings are educated to the need to renovate them sympathetically.

Yours faithfully,

RICHARD BURNS

Lutterworth, Leicestershire