THERE should be some eyebrows raised at this week's story that just six parish councils are paying the lion's share of maintaining the Malvern Hills and Commons.

We have commented before on how central Government should pay its part in helping to maintain a national tourist attraction.

But today we hear that Worcestershire County Council is contributing less today than it did in 1993. How can this be?

The County Council handed over maintenance of commons to the Malvern Hills Conservators in 1968.

But tax-payers in parishes of Castlemorton, Newland, Powick, Little Malvern and Berrow - covering some 46 per cent of the board's land - do not pay a precept to the Conservators. And there is no contribution from Herefordshire Council.

That means a small cluster of parishes - Malvern, Malvern Wells, Colwall, West Malvern, Mathon and Guarlford - are subsidising other parishes and - one could argue - a paltry contribution from both Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Surely a fairer system would be to seek equal/proportionate contributions from all local partners in the equation before insisting that the major share should come from the lion at Whitehall not the cubs in Worcestershire.