So KEITH Mitchell, in the middle of the worst financial crisis in decades, can afford the time to swan off to London to dress up in funny clothes and be invested as a senior Mason.

He might do better in future to supervise his staff, especially now that we hear (Saturday’s Oxford Mail front page) that some of them have spent a four-figure sum on what must have been a very pleasant team-building overnight stay in a country hotel that most of his constituents could never dream of entering (and let’s not forget the consultancy fees).

It seems to me that even the most numb-skulled official could not have signed this off in the current financial environment as an acceptable use of council tax-payers’ money if it had been a one-off special event.

So can we please know how often we have had to pay for such hedonistic interludes since Mr Mitchell started pulling the plug on our precious libraries, youth services and so on?

My fear is that our lords and masters are so wedded to waste that they just cannot see the indignation that their insensitive behaviour causes.

My only hope is that Mr Mitchell has developed a taste for fancy dress and will quit politics in an attempt to play the role of Gandalf in the next episode of Lord of the Rings. He won’t get the part though – he can’t control his staff as well as Galdalf could!

Martin Roberts, Stone Close, Botley, Oxford