COMING so soon after the recent decision by many museums and institutions to abolish charges in line with enlightened Government policy, the swingeing fees now introduced for the first time by the Elgar Centre at Broadheath for researchers come as all the more of a shock.

These fees are indeed swingeing, amounting to a charge of £4 per day, with A4 photocopies priced at 50p.

For comparison, Gloucester Record Office, one of only two in the whole country which charges for research, asks £2 per day, while Worcester charges 25p per photocopy.

But, figures aside, these charges are wrong in principle. We have a proud tradition in this country that our public heritage of records and documents should be freely available, all the more relevant in the case of a composer who touched the hearts of all and whose leading example is perhaps that of self-help.

It does no good at all for the name of the centre, and for the cause of serious Elgar research, that it is now one of the few such institutions in the country which charges.

I trust the Management Committee will find better methods of raising funds than the apparent exploitation of those whose research and writing are largely a labour of love.

KEVIN ALLEN (Author of Elgar the Cyclist, Elgar in Love, Portrait of Nimrod), Benbow Close, Malvern Wells.