PROUD to be British? Not any more. I used to be proud to be British, but over the years, sad to say, I became only pleased to be British.

Today, it is with regret that I can only feel sad and ashamed to be British.

We are known for doing many good things, I know, but when I saw on the news how pigs waiting to be slaughtered in an abattoir in Essex were beaten and had cigarettes stubbed out on their faces, I felt sick and ashamed to be human, never mind British.

The people responsible are scum and not fit to be called human beings.

The sickening thing is that apparently there will be no action taken because the cameras were put there illegally. So that makes it OK then for these despicable scum to carry on inflicting unnecessary pain on dumb defenceless animals.

Linda Wilkins, a very sad human being, Rosemary Avenue, Grimsby.