COUNCILLORS allowances being reduced? (Why leading councillors in York are facing a cut in pay, October 30).

Well no, actually. The leaders' allowances are being reduced by a couple of hundred pounds in more than £26,000 and the leader of the opposition by a small proportion of his £16,800. Everyone else's allowances are to rise by £436.

Anyone like to guess what my pay rise has been this year? Nowt as they say in Yorkshire, and I work 40-plus hours a week, on my feet for more than eight hours a day, and give something back to the community in which I work. All I see is this city's council taking away from the community.

I would suggest that to have someone being given £26,000 to act in a position that should be for love and the benefit of the people is wrong and that a figure of no more than £3,000 each should be paid as allowances to any councillor. If anything should be paid at all!

There's a massive saving in council tax.

Oh, and as we are nearing the silly season on council tax, let's not have any scaremongering this year. I ask the council to find out what money it has coming in, from all sources, then allocate only that amount to the services it needs, without raising council tax 1p for a change - just like those of us with household budgets have to do.

Jeremy Banyard,

Bramham Grove,

Acomb, York.

Updated: 09:21 Tuesday, November 02, 2004