I READ with interest the three letters and the comment by The Skipper about council tax and councillors' perks in the Packet.

I write as a former Falmouth councillor on Falmouth borough, Carrick district and, after a few years rest, Falmouth town councils and I think councillors allowances and perks have got out of hand these days. For instance a Carrick councillor gets £3,000-a-year and a county councillor just under £9,000, so anyone elected to both gets about £250-a-week plus expenses and perks from both councils. A nice little earner!

When I was first elected we only had expenses, firmly controlled. We were expected to serve our community and use such experience and talents we had for the public benefit.

When allowances were introduced the then government laid down that councils set their own allowance up to a maximum of £10 per meeting actually attended. The then Tory-controlled Carrick voted for £4 per meeting much to the chagrin of a few councillors from other parties.

Tory Carrick had one of the lowest council rates, as it was then called, in the Westcountry. We worked on the basis that our job was to provide public services at reasonable cost that private enterprise did not provide. Everybody got everything they were legally entitled to but we did not fall for every hard luck story that was pitched at us, nor did we accept every request from chief officers for extra staff.

I know that successive governments have increased councils' workload without increasing the rate support grant accordingly but, in my view, that does not excuse the big increases in councillors allowances and perks.

L A Parry, Hillside Road, Falmouth