I would like to compliment Colin Guyton of the United Kingdom Independence Party on his splendid result in Ruardean in the district elections.

Colin achieved nearly 15 per cent of the votes cast, virtually double that of his nearest Conservative opponent, in an area where UKIP has never stood before. That so many people should vote for a largely single issue party speaks volumes.

The lesson for Mark Harper and the Tory government is that the people of Britain must have a referendum on our continued membership of the European Union.

– Richard Leppington, New Road, Bream.