I NOTICE that City of York Council is seeking our ideas on helping them to balance their budget.

I have one or two suggestions to make. First, take a year off, just stop doing things. Especially things that cost money.

New bus lanes and nice furniture for offices are desirable, but we can’t afford them. Why did the new council offices have to be state-of-the-art? I’d like a nice new house, but I haven’t got an apparently bottomless pit of other people’s money to dip into.

Mrs Pamela Brown, Goodwood Grove, Dringhouses, York.