I AM writing in response to the recent correspondence in the Bolton Evening News concerning the rise in the level of crime.

Last week I was yet another innocent victim of car crime, in which my car was stolen from my driveway in the early hours of the morning. The theft once discovered was immediately reported to the police, who took one-and-a-half hours to visit me to take a statement.

My car was recovered, abandoned, a few miles away, but the damage is costing a few hundred pounds. As a result I will lose my two years' no claims bonus, as I cannot afford to pay for the repairs myself. My insurance will now be sky-high. I had saved up for quite a while in order to afford to not only to buy my car, but also pay for the insurance.

Why should I be worse off due to the actions of a few individuals who cannot or will not get off their backsides and earn an honest wage, just like the majority of people do? These people are not encouraged to do so when the benefit system allows them to stay at home all day while taxpayers such as myself pay for them to do this. It also never ceases to amaze me that these same people can also afford to wear designer clothes and drive expensive cars.

I wonder why I should bother going to work at all and pay my mortgage and council tax and stay on the right side of the law, when it seems that, the more wrong you do, the more help you get from the "system". Am I alone in thinking this way?

(Name and address supplied)