Allow council workers to ‘dress cool’ in heat As a former grass cutter for more than 20 years at the council, myself and another lad always asked our bosses if we could wear shorts on our ride-on machines when the weather was really hot.

We were always told we could not wear them. We were told that if we wore them we would be up for disciplinary, even though the highways team wore shorts.

We used to complain about this, but were told that was a different department and they had different rules.

But why? We are all one council.

Yes, there are hazards and health and safety in every job, but we were on those machines for eight hours a day in the hottest weather, in full sun with no shade and in full, thick, padded uniforms, soaking in sweat and feeling awful in the hot weather all through the grass-cutting season, right through the summer.

Shorts etc., should be able to be worn at a worker’s own risk. I’m sure some sort of policy could be agreed with employers.

Garry Stephenson, Gale Lane, York