GILLIAN Wilkinson, in her letter, “It’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut” (November 10), says she despairs of the number of occasions when it is suggested that responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions should be transferred to someone else.

Gillian is referring, in this case, to the question of whether employers should impose a ban on employees drinking at lunch time.

Gillian says she firmly believes that the majority of workers will use their common sense and do not need yet another set of rules.

But what about the minority who have no common sense?

Are employers expected to check each employee on their return to work, or do they wait for an accident to occur?

Of course, if we could trust people to use their common sense, and if we all had our fair share of it, we would be able to repeal a number of laws — drink driving and the speed limits being two that come to mind.

But the fact of the matter is that we need a nanny state while we have so many immature adults in our society.

I despair of the number of times I have heard people say that they know how much to drink, or how fast to drive, without other people telling them.

Of course, after a couple of drinks, what little bit of nous they have evaporates altogether.

Brian Derbyshire, Ribchester Grove, Bolton