Despite the fact that our council taxes are going up way beyond inflation and the average for all councils - we are still languishing at the bottom of the heap. North Yorkshire 31 out of 35... Selby District 259 out of 260.

Is Selby District's ambition to be immortalised in verse as with Slough who are propping them up at the bottom? However, John Betjeman is dead, so even in this respect they fail!

I notice in David Wiles' article (Evening Press, April 20) that council spokesmen offer feeble excuses. It is no good senior officers whinging about the wrong things being measured - the Audit Commission measures the things people want. It is time to dispense with councillors' whims, hidden agendas and esoteric preferences in order to concentrate on getting the basics right.

N Holmes,

South Milford,

Leeds.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.