A FRIEND I’d not seen in a long time recently visited. After lunch She wanted to pop into Newport to go to the Midland Bank. I advised her there no longer was one. She also wanted to pop to Top Shop for something. I advised there no longer was one. She was incredulous saying, “Why? There used to be two!” After at least being able to get her business done at the HSBC, she suggested we pop into Marks and Spencer’s. Again I advised her there no longer was one.

After moving the perfectly-working Passport Office to a location nobody can find, and relocating the Post Office to the end of town nobody dares to go, it’s little wonder why the Nato summit organisers chose to leave Newport off their logo and promotional materials.

We’ve become a joke to all. Newport does not deserve to be called a city, and it certainly doesn’t deserve to be part of the Nato gig. We all know they will go straight to Cardiff anyway.

So very sad for the good people of Newport who want, and deserve, so much more. S Symonds, Bassaleg