SO Councillor Albert Nugent, chairman of Durham County Council, thinks the seven district councils of Durham are campaigning for self-preservation (Echo, Aug 10).

Well, in the challenge for unitary authority, of course they are - and what has the county council been doing these last few years but the same with cunning stealth, ie "Planning for Real", "Closer to the People" and so on?

Coun Nugent should realise that the switch means the abolition of the present county council authority too, although I am convinced that officers at Durham think that they will not be affected.

I, and many of my Liberal Democrat colleagues on Wear Valley District Council, believe that the remoteness we feel with the present county authority will only be increased, that it will also lead to more electors' views being discarded, and that it will bring oneparty domination in the whole of Durham with possibly a ten-man cabinet as muted by some Labour Party members. We are horrified at this prospect.

Councillor Vince Perkins, Liberal Democrats, Wear Valley District Council.