I just had to write to tell you what a fabulous afternoon I had at Well Street Market when I popped by to celebrate the re-opening, writes Peter Mitchell, “Santa” at Well Street Market reopening.

My goodness gracious me, I was so excited to see all the boys and girls there and they all seemed very excited to see me too. I hope a few of them send in their selfies (or “elfies”) to your letters page.

It was a fantastic Christmas cracker of a market and I had a lovely time meeting all the stall holders.

I certainly sampled a few of their mince pies and I have to say they were absolutely delicious.

And I was so pleased to see that there is a youth market there as well giving the young adults a chance to try out a new career. Big thumbs up from Santa for that! So I’d like to wish a very merry Christmas to all your readers and a very big success to the Well Street Market in 2017.

Diane Abbott states Theresa May refuses to confirm European migrants living here will get to stay upon leaving the EU, writes Terry Wood, Deepdene House, Major Road.

Why should she, if the EU does not do the same for Brits overseas?

Any abuse is out of order on social media.

Many of Ms Abbott’s constituents are worried about racism and immigration rhetoric, she said (“My constituents feel worried and shut out”, Gazette, December 1).

I am worried about being called a racist for voting for Brexit.

And can she tell us what she has done about new build flats being bought by investors overseas when Hackney has a housing crisis?

I’m hardly surprised this has happened (“Cycle crash shows need for crossings”, Gazette, December 1), writes Chris Smith, via the Gazette website.

Hackney and TfL have made a proper mess of the CS1 implementation and the road closures are misguided.

They didn’t consult properly, ignored local concerns, were overly influenced by a small, vocal minority of middle class home owners preoccupied with house values rising and then pushed ahead.

In the past there wasn’t an issue with cyclist safety on Wordsworth Road itself.

The real issues are the entry and exit points, and guess what: they remain unsafe.

Try turning right into Wordsworth or exiting onto Nevill Road – it’s a nightmare.

Cllr Demirci’s response is lazy, asking the parent to contact her, and misses the point.

Hackney is utterly obsessed with road closure policy, and doesn’t work hard to see how the theory works in practice.

“De-risking” cycling completely is impossible and sometimes counterproductive.

Absolute nonsense! writes Dave in response, via the Gazette website.

The vocal majority around here are the ones moaning because they can’t be bothered to drive along the main road for an extra five minutes to get back home from work or going out at 8am filming U-turns with their camera phones to make it look like this is what’s happening at all hours.

The positive effects the road closures have had on the area are dramatic.

No more rat runs, no more speeding vans, lorries, or cars. Peace and quiet throughout the night as opposed to speeding taxi drivers.

These are just small streets with people’s homes on, not main roads. They couldn’t handle that kind of traffic.

I’m sorry the boy was hit by an idiotic cyclist, but I’m glad he wasnt hit by an idiotic speeding taxi driver.

Please remember to clear rubbish, writes Ed Harvey, full address supplied.

As we hurry towards the festive season, I just wanted to find a way to say thank you through the Gazette to all those employees and volunteers who maintain the borough’s gardens and parks.

Each morning, our local park is opened by volunteers.

Every day I meet cheerful, good humoured employees who are proud of the work they do and get enormous pleasure from watching children, parents, dog walkers, cyclists, runners – everyone – enjoy the parks.

Thank you.

If I were allowed a Christmas wish, it would be that the very small number of people who don’t bin their rubbish or clear up after their dogs would remember those who work on their behalf – as well as other users of our wonderful parks and gardens.