I AM writing in response to the letter by Daphne Pearson. ('Law is an ass', June 24, 2011).

Like Dr. Pearson I lament the lack of volunteers willing to stand as parish councillors. Dr Pearson, to support her point, could have cited the results of the recent May elections where no elections were held for a large number of parish councils due to a lack of candidates.

However, for reasons best known to her, Dr Pearson describes recent events in the parish of St Briavels. I have no idea how Dr Pearson obtained her information.

She certainly wasn't at the meeting when some of the events she described took place. However I do know that she did not contact either the chairman or the clerk of the parish council to verify what she had been told.

Had she done so she might well have heard a different version of events. The law may well have appeared to be an ass in the case of the councillor who was disqualified. To not fully check out the facts before writing to the press would be considered by many to be asinine.

– David Rees, St Briavels.