WHAT very welcome news it was in last week's Gazette that the police have taken action against some of the drug dealers in the Calne and Chippenham area, before the drug situation got completely out of hand.

Thanks must go to the Gazette's Shop A Pusher hotline for its role in providing information which helped the police. I hope that maximum sentences are given to these criminals who cause so much misery.

Also I hope that this isn't a one-off purge and that the police continue to be vigilant and act promptly to reports of similar drug related activity. However, what is worrying, is the report in the same edition of your paper that up to 100 police officers may be lost in Wiltshire as a result of cuts in funding.

I fail to understand how, when crime is so rife, that this Labour Government, which boldly pronounces that it is tough on crime, can introduce changes to funding which result in decreases. What will it take for them to understand the real concerns of the people in this country?

ROBERT BAGGS

Oxford Road

Calne