HOW can Darlington council and we, the taxpayers, pay-out out these golden redundant handshakes? The out-going council chief executive Ada Burns is going to get an early pension which will cost the council £200,000 (Echo Jan 15).

Surely these people should be working until the 67 pension age.

Why should they be getting this large amount of our hard earned cash for sitting in a warm office?

Ms Burns isn’t the only person who will take whatever they can from the ratepayer. It’s about time we all stopped paying our rates to these people. If we all did it, they couldn’t take us all to court.

Stan Wilby, Darlington