IN REPLY to D M Deamer’s letter of August 16, I must be under the wrong impression. I thought my council tax went towards keeping our streets clean, our roads repaired and our footpaths repaired and passable.

Legally one can only cut back foliage that overhangs your own property after which you are obliged to ask the owner of said foliage how they would like it disposed of. I doubt very much if DM Deamer owns the path by the River Foss or even knows the owner of the brambles he is trimming.

As for serving my local community, I voluntarily help look after a bowling green in my local area, a task which I do 52 weeks of the year, a much more arduous and rewarding task than cutting back a few brambles.

AP Cox, Heath Close, Holgate, York.