MR BLOBBY is alive and kicking! Just who is he kicking this time? Why - the taxpayer, of course.

When my wife received the annual bill for council tax we considered it sensible to pay this account (for the first time) by direct debit.

On March 14, we delivered the appropriate form to the town hall.

As OAPs we can't always predict just when our pensions etc are being credited to our bank account.

The date the demand required us to pay, each month, is on the 10th of each month.

Therefore we claused our application form 'to be deducted my a/c 10th month, not before.'

We had a reply from revenue Services, dated March 15: "I regret that it is only possible to pay direct debit on the first of the month, so as you state this is not convenient to you I suggest you continue to pay by cheque, making payments as close to the 10th of the month as possible.

"The decision for the direct debit payment date was made following the Audit Commission strongly advising all councils to bring forward their payment dates to maximise their cash flow position."

I realise that would make our payment due on April Fool's Day.

It is also Easter Monday.

The savings, in terms of administration expenses, must be considerable If people can be persuaded to pay by direct debit.

What saving would be made if we made the payment 10 days earlier than the date they had already requested?

With executive decisions like these we can only hope for a Conservative council to bring some sense into proceedings.

OAP Taxpayer

Lancaster

May I remind you that the Tories did not perform too brilliantly at the time of Blobby and with one or two exceptions have done bog all to get to the bottom of the issue since.

Just like the Lib Dem leadership they have sat back puffing out their chests arrogantly refusing to discharge their responsibilities and showing tacit support for those poorly performing officers who have cost the public millions upon millions of pounds.

Take the party politics out of local government and you stand a chance - otherwise you may as well forget the whole thing.

They should all hang their heads in shame - Ed.