DAVID William's recent letter has finally goaded me into adding my voice to the many protestors recently expressing their views on the Malvern Town Council.

When the town council was formed it seemed very odd to me that Malvern was to be burdened with an additional tier of local government at a time when the rest of the country was attempting to reduce to two levels.

As an onlooker, being outside the Malvern Town Council area at that time, it seemed outrageous that one of the first major undertakings of this new body was nothing to do with the welfare of the town - it was to spend a vast amount of public money on their unnecessarily extravagant offices; now, having been transferred from Leigh & Bransford to Trinity Ward, I feel I must express my views.

Over £500,000 was to be spent on these offices (and I believe that the project is already over budget) of benefit only to the town council, yet a few thousand could not be found for Christmas lights which would certainly have been beneficial to trade in the town.

Now, having fixed themselves up with plush offices, effectively at ratepayers expense, our council has the sublime arrogance to "demand" a more than 60% increase in precept for 2001-2.

David Williams asks in his letter what we would like to do without. May I suggest, along with many others, that we can well do without a town council which appears to put its own comfort and convenience above the interests of the townspeople whom it was elected to service.

J B JANNEY, Dragons Lane, Leigh Sinton.