I AM astounded that City of York Council has given the go-ahead to spend ward money on new police community support officers (April 30). Our ward already spends a great deal of its budget on a successful community ranger providing 35 hours a week patrolling by LeisureVend.

This scheme was pioneered by Skelton Parish Council and is now copied by many other areas.

With the tremendous rise in the police precept last year, followed by another rise this year, surely this contribution is another hike in the taxes we all have to pay - and has been proposed without public consultation.

The removal of a per head contribution to the parish councils which was given to the ward councils to promote schemes in each ward has now become another indirect tax to subsidise the poor policing we are at this time experiencing and no doubt will continue to suffer.

Phill Thomas,

Brecksfields,

Skelton, York.

Updated: 09:39 Tuesday, May 03, 2005