Madam, on Wednesday last week a contractor working for a neighbour of ours knocked down a street lamppost with his lorry.

Subsequently, having noticed that there were exposed, potentially dangerous electric cables, I spoke with our councillor, Andy Atkinson, and he immediately contacted the appropriate people. The result was that by eight o'clock that evening we had a brand new, functioning street light.

Though I confess Cllr Atkinson and I are not political soul-mates he has, and will continue to have, my full support. A councillor who actually talks to you and gets things done must be better than a councillor who is mainly concerned with preserving a right to claim full expenses. This seems to be the case with the majority on the County Council as was evident from the recent, sadly vitriolic debate on Cllr Atkinson's motion to limit expenses for existing councillors. I know where my vote will and, equally importantly, definitely will not go next time and I can only hope that other voters feel the same.Derek Haselden, Ross