I refer to a letter from a Mr J Short, director, Swindon Services, (EA 22 April) referring to a letter from Mr Pearce (EA March 31) re the Shaftesbury Lakes project.

Mr Pearce is quite correct in his observation, that the area did look like a WWI battlefield. I am sorry, if I am going to upset Mr Short, but, I fully agree with Mr Pearce.

Who in their right minds, would dredge a lake in the middle of winter, when the ground is waterlogged and you can only work 10 days out of 30, except the one and only Swindon Borough Council.

But, more to the point, I am very, very annoyed at Mr Short's sanctimonious claptrap of a statement, and I quote... "I think he (Mr Pearce) would have been well advised to consult the council before making such a ridiculous statement".

Very low and below the belt, Mr Short. If Mr Pearce did as you suggest and contact the council, he may have just got the same treatment that I received.

On Thursday, May 8, (I deliberately left it a few weeks) I called Swindon Borough Council with reference to the Shaftesbury Lake project.

I was passed from department to department and at the end of a 35 minute telephone call, I was told, that as I am a "member of the public, I am not allowed these figures".

Why ? The person on the other end of the phone would not accept the fact that, Mr Short had already published the figures in a letter to the Evening Advertiser, and therefore making the information available to all.

Perhaps Mr Short could explain to the people in the council, that we the public are the people that have to pay for this WWI battlefield enactment through the council tax, and are the same people that require answers to our questions.

We should be told where our money is being spent, and then we should not be told that it is a need to know basis, (welcome to the secret seven, remember (Enid Blyton, I am not Noddy)) be it £80,000 or £250-£300,000. We have the right to know.

Perhaps Mr Short would like to offer up to me the same invitation that he gave to Mr Pearce, and speak to me on this subject.

John Forster-Heatlie

Wroughton