DURHAM County Council is again pleading poverty and is going to increase council tax by 2.99 per cent.

Yet it insists on building a new county hall in Durham city centre, at a reported cost of £46m.

This will result in increasing needless congestion in the city centre.

This profligate authority showed an astonishing lack of foresight in demolishing perfectly usable council chambers and offices in Chester-le-Street, Consett and Easington within the last few years.

These were considered obsolete following the abolishing of district councils under local government reorganisation of 2009.

Yet any one of them could have served as a replacement county hall and brought extra revenue and footfall into whichever of those towns was chosen.

Instead, Durham council taxpayers from Mickleton to Murton and all points in between are going to have to foot the bill for another grandiose scheme.

Neil McKay, Lanchester