DEAR EDITOR - Over many weeks your paper has been printing statements made by some Conservative councillors whose main aim has been to destabilise the leadership of Bromsgrove District Council.

These councillors have now formed a new group and continue to make statements against the controlling group.

We true and loyal supporters of the Conservative Party have till now declined from answering - not because we felt these statements to be true but for the wish that matters could be reconciled and councillors continue to work together for the benefit of the people of Bromsgrove.

However, a public stand has been made which changes the issue, and calls for points in response.

I was elected as a Conservative councillor in 1999. The first I heard of Bromsgrove Rovers Football Club and Tesco was when, at a group meeting, the then leader, Cllr Psirides, told members that talks were going on between the two parties. Nothing has changed. Nobody has done anything behind anybody's back, as has been suggested. However, Cllr Psirides, has changed sides and chooses to forget that he was one of the original facilitators.

This changing sides and forgetting responsibilities has been done by a man who, when the chips were down and he thought that he would lose the election in 1995, chose not to stand as a local candidate.

Cllr Psirides was the leader who failed to get the Arts Centre moving, who failed to get the ASDA deal and the multi-storey car park finalised, and who did nothing towards the much needed refurbishment of the Dolphin Centre.

He was the leader who foisted a 27 per cent Council Tax on us residents of Bromsgrove.

It was his leadership whose serious failings were highlighted in the Corporate Governance Report.

The new Conservative leadership has been working diligently to rectify and improve the situation it inherited.

As a magistrate, an honourable appointment, Cllr Psirides asks witnesses to be truthful and straight. So I put it to him that he be straight with those who elected him as a Conservative and not as an Independent.

Stand down. Resign your seat. Seek re-election as an Independent. Encourage the four other members of your group - who were elected as Conservatives - to do the honourable thing and follow your example.

Councillor Mrs June Griffiths

Alvechurch Ward

Bromsgrove District Council