IN his regular letters to your column in answer to his many critics, Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell invites us to suggest where cuts could be made.

He also suggests that volunteers could staff the libraries and youth clubs which are being considered for closure.

Firstly, unless I have missed anything, I have not noticed any cuts being made to councillors' expenses and allowances.

One does not expect local councillors to be out of pocket in carrying out their duties, but there was a time when public-spirited people gave their time and expertise to the local community voluntarily.

I served as a parish councillor for 14 years, two years as chairman, at a very busy time in Ducklington when we had proposals for street-lighting, flooding in the village, commons registration and pressure groups opposed to the village by-pass.

The clerk and I tramped the village with a map and torch marking where street-lights should be erected.

We waded through damp fields trying to find out where blocked ditches and culverts were preventing normal drainage, and we made numerous visits to Oxford to carry out research into the status of village common-land.

My door bell and telephone were ringing night and day and my wife typed all the letters. I did not claim one penny in expenses.

In contrast, it now seems that being a councillor is a nice little earner when many of them seem to be little more than lobby-fodder.

I don’t know what else Mr Mitchell does other than write letters to the Oxford Mail to justify his approximately £30,000 remuneration and expenses, plus a valuable free parking space in the city.

It does seem that some of his time is, or was, spent haranguing and insulting students concerned about increased university fees, but I am unaware what his hourly rate for that would have been.

Regarding the cuts that are being made, we are told that ‘we are all in this together’. But it does seem that some are avoiding the worst aspects and still doing very nicely.

GORDON CLACK, Witney Road, Ducklington