THOUSANDS duped by Railtrack? Surely not. 'Country conned by Conservatives' would be more pertinent, now that the privatisation turkeys have come home to roost.

We have the worst public transport system in Europe - officially! And the words "starved of investment for decades" have worn as thin as a station announcer's excuses.

There is no one left who will defend Heseltine's privatisation of the railways. The whole country has to carry the consequences, not just the unfortunate Railtrack investor.

The real villains here are those responsible for privatisation; that jolly jape where what the public already owned is sold to the public along with all the accompanying liabilities of which we are (now) all well aware.

It's all very well for Councillor Clee to stand on his moral soapbox now, but I should like to know what he and his colleagues did to try and obtain improved funding of public services in this county during the years of Conservative government.

Worcestershire remains the worst-funded county council of all shire counties and has been for decades, largely because of the passivity of Conservative county councillors like Coun Clee and his colleagues before him.

ANDREW BOUGHTON,

Wells Road,

Malvern.