RECURRING reports of the MP’s high rating dealing with correspondence is perhaps more a tribute to the secretarial staff who serve him well. But it is focus that really counts.

We hear a lot about two new colleges , the academies and a facelift for Wiltshire College; similarly a bypass for Stonehenge and a Science Park for Porton. All fine – but at what cost?

No candidate seems to have addressed the closure of or replacement for a proper police station or policing needs of South Wilts; the remoteness of local government from Trowbridge, similarly the magistracy from Chippenham; the under-funding of local hospitals, declining care provision for the elderly and for children with special needs; the withdrawal of funding for the Wiltshire Youth Music Service and the arts; the closure of the bus station, the state of our roads or the traffic congestion on the ring roads; the threat of development both commercial and housing on green space; the proposed links of the police to Somerset whilst the fire and ambulance services are looking towards Dorset. Or does none of this matter?

The answer may be that these are for local councillors but what chance have they at Trowbridge where no one listens?

Frank Lockyer

Milford