ONCE again Malmesbury Town Council is to attempt to take over the running of St Paul's Without.

Might I suggest to Mayor Charles Vernon and the council that they make a better job of running what they have before contemplating taking on something that to the best of my knowledge is being run quite competently, the catalogue of blunders of the past 12 months speaks for itself.

He argues that the council is a natural provider of services to these neighbourhoods which are close to such leisure facilities such as St Aldhems Mead. I wonder how many in those neighbourhoods use it. I wish Charles Vernon would tell all the ratepayers of Malmesbury exactly what we get for £116,000 a year. In the new town guide it says that the Market Cross is the responsibility of the town council. They seem happy with grass growing around it and bicycle tyres hung from the pinnacles.

I tried to obtain details of the wages being paid in the town hall, a right that I would have thought all council tax payers had. I gave up in frustration.

The town council should face facts, it is little more than a parish council and the need for a bewigged town clerk and a deputy has long gone. What the town did need was a good hands-on manager with a sense of civic pride and genuine interest in providing a service to the tax payers.

O PIKE

Malmesbury