ONCE again a Bury Times correspondent has been subjected to character assassination by council leader John Byrne (Letters, November 5).

Mr Jim Eagle's only fault was to praise the Liberal Democrats and their efforts in opposing plans to move the market.

This is not the first time John Byrne has attempted such tactics. He used similar ones against my friend and colleague, Mr David Ogden, when we campaigned against closures of homes for the elderly. Although a verbal apology was obtained from Coun Byrne, he did not apologise via the newspaper.

Whether or not Mr Eagle is, or was, a Liberal Democrat does not matter.

Regarding Coun Byrne's claims that Labour retained the support of people in the local elections, he can not deny a swing against his party; a swing which may have proved more damaging had the European elections not been lumped in, not to mention the fiasco of the all-postal vote.

Can he tell me how much council tax money was spent promoting the "Weak" to "Fair" assessment of Bury Council given by the Audit Commission? Surely his own party should have paid for this, not the council taxpayer.

And the practice of appointing champions for various council departments is merely a way of boosting the egos of some very average councillors. As a consequence, we have a letter from the older peoples champion, Coun Audin, about how they helped an old lady - while at the same time giving a plug to the thrift of the council.

As for the "environment champion" Derek Boden, perhaps he would be better donning his armour, mounting his trusty steed, and persuading British Waterways to finish clearing the weed from the entire length of the Bury-Radcliffe canal, instead of having a go (Letters, November 5) at the indomitable Peter Doherty and his Fifth Column comments.

Perhaps he should also check the council meetings attendance record as a certain councillor attended only 43 per cent of council meetings last year.

Finally, might I suggest that, following the result of the north east devolution vote, he realises that we in the north west do not want another tier of highly-paid councillors with over-staffed offices, being financed from our already over-taxed pockets.

BERNARD SLINGSBY