I FIND it beyond belief that councillor Sandy Fraser (Letters, August 20) should blame government cuts for dirty streets and gullies in York.

If I recall, for the past two years the Labour council has increased the council tax to protect the essential services, or so we were told.

Nearly all the weed growth and blocked drains are in the suburbs. I have never seen any weeds growing out of gullies in the town centre or any roads with potholes in that area.

There always seems to be plenty of funds for unnecessary projects in the town centre, for example £500,000 for King’s Square and £1.8m for Newgate Market.

These are things that the voters remember come election time.

E Carter, Marston Crescent, Acomb, York.