I HAVE taken the trouble to view our assets at the Taj Mahal where the first quotation for alterations was £400,000. The grapevine says the figure will be closer to £650,000. The whole lot was completely unnecessary.

What I have noticed is that vast amounts of work have been carried out in the heart of Coleford with not one local contractor involved. We have thousands of unemployed here in the Forest yet not one is employed on these tasks. This should be part of the conditions of contract. Keith Bell, who employs many local people, could undertake all these jobs with his eyes shut.

Some of these contractors have been in Coleford so long that they could claim residency. They might even claim to be free miners!

The mind boggles at the waste of public money. The word scrutiny is banded about so let us begin by asking how much has been spent on Clanna in the past 24 years; how much has been spent on Jeremy Awdrey and his sheep; how much has been spent on the Martin Yarworth issue and how much ratepayers' money has been spent on the persecution of Alan Preest? – Michael Meredith Edwards, Sling.