THANKS to the very informed Keith Isaac (Letters, August 25) we now know that the excuse by Cllr Tracy Simpson-Laing regarding a fire certificate preventing people observing the last council meeting was wrong all along.

It turns out that fire certificates have been superseded in recent legislation and are no longer valid. So all those who were told it was pre-booked tickets only were shoved into a side room without any justification or legal basis. Is anyone surprised? I’m not?

John Jones, Sand Hutton, York.