I READ in my copy of the Shotover Preservation Society summer newsletter, that Oxford City Council proposes to relocate the countryside rangers, who currently live in tied accommodation at Westhill Farm and Brasenose Farm.

The staff ratio has already been cut, so that there are only three countryside rangers employed to look after the whole of Shotover Park and Port Meadow – which make up about 900 acres altogether.

Much of the cutting and coppicing is done by valiant volunteers.

Small wonder the dog waste bins are overflowing, and litter is not collected on busy weekends throughout the summer.

I suggest that if the tied accommodation goes, so will the qualified rangers. As it is, they live in idyllic surroundings.

What would the council do with these properties? Or is it the thin end of the wedge, and do they intend to encroach on to our precious Green Belt?

When readers are walking or cycling through the haven which is Brasenose Woods and Shotover, please spare a thought for the overworked rangers – and take your litter home so that we can make our freedom last just a little bit longer.

MARY STIFF, Corunna Crescent, Cowley, Oxford