THE following letter has been sent to the Secretary of State for Defence, Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, London. A copy has also been sent the Mel Stride MP for Central Devon.

THE chances of apocalyptic nuclear explosions, due to misunderstanding or accident, being narrowly avoided, have been widely known about for a long time, but a new book by Eric Schlosser, published in September called Command and Control will spread these troubling issues much further.

This meticulously researched account of the history of nuclear weapons gives many frightening accounts of near misses of nuclear attacks and details of a number of technical accidents.

You may have seen the review of this book in The Guardian of September 14 and possibly the New Yorker of September 30, if not having read the book yourself.

Schlosser quotes (retired) US General George Butler of the Strategic Air Command in a 1991 statement: "We escaped the Cold War without a nuclear holocaust by some combination of skill, luck and divine intervention and I suspect the latter in greater proportion."

If the full details of the increasing nuclear risks were more widely known, I am sure they would definitely affect the attitude of the British public to renewal of our so-called "independent" Trident nuclear weapons system - or indeed even maintaining the present system.

If you give any credence to Mr Schlosser's words, you will understand why I and many thousands of concerned citizens believe that far from defending this country, the continuation of present and development of future nuclear weapons puts Britain and the entire world in greater peril.

I hope many people will look up information on Command and Control, evaluate its information in light of the acquisition of nuclear weapons by less responsible nations since 1991 and write to their MP's and other political representatives on this issue.

The book's author breaks from his neutral tone only in the book's final sentences, as he refers to today's dangerous situation: "Right now thousands of missiles are hidden away. Every one of them is an accident waiting to happen, a potential act of mass murder. They are out there, sustained by our denial - and they work."

Charles G Edwards

The Park

Crediton