“THE history of York is the history of England” – George VI. But for how much longer?

I read with a deal of irritation that our elected servants are proposing to vastly reduce the role of our city archaeologist and conservationists (The Press, March 15).

York is a historical and cultural icon. Our history and archaeology is second to none. We celebrate that fact and every time a person comes to York to share in our heritage and culture it reinforces that fact. At the heart of that is City archaeologist John Oxley. That is what the bean-counters seem to have missed.

John has been a vocal representative and advocate for the history and archaeology of York for more than 20 years.

He deserves better than this and we deserve to have a fully engaged heritage department staffed by dedicated professionals, full time. We are important enough to have our own city archaeologist. We should be revelling in this, not trying to put a monetary value on it.

This is a classic case of culturally myopic, intellectual troglodytes, assessing the price of everything while knowing the value of nothing. Leave our archaeology and heritage alone.

Paul Gething, director, Bamburgh Research Project, (but a resident of York).