I HAVE been a reader of the Guardian for many years, since the time it was a broadsheet in fact.

I feel that in recent years it has followed the national trend and been guilty of dumbing-down, particularly with respect to the headlines given to many articles.

Why do you find it necessary to use so many puns in headlines?

Some people may like them, but I for one find them rather irritating, particularly when the article does not warrant such humour.

A case in point is the headline on your front page last week, above the report of the damage done to Knutsford Football Club by a group of Travellers “They stink it’s all over”.

How can you justify such a headline when it concerns a serious incident like that?

Surely you could have come up with a more appropriate headline for this disgusting behaviour.

Please leave the puns to the national red-tops and concentrate on producing an interesting and informative local newspaper.

You might not like what I’ve written but I do hope you print it so other readers can give their views.

Jim Burgess Knutsford