I HESITATED before taking up my pen to express my views on the very sad story - and your very forthright Comment column (Echo, both May 26) - about those thousands of wheelie bins stored at great and unnecessary expense in a farmer's field near Crook, County Durham, instead of being put to the proper use for which they were purchased.

Whatever has happened to Wear Valley District Council with members - whether allied to party politics or declaring their independence - allowing this deplorable situation to arise?

This from a council which has received accolades for good local government on occasions in the past. The two things just don't add up.

The council has no less than a duty to get this mess sorted out quickly, otherwise it will be judged as a poor lot and make many council tax payers wonder why they voted them in. Thank goodness I spent my 40 years in local government (in Darlington and Weardale) absolutely free of party politics or affiliations of any sort. Forty good years.

Wilf Hume, Frosterley, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham.

THE saying that truth is stranger than fiction couldn't be more true than in the farcical situation in which 15,000 wheelie bins are being stored on farmland near Crook, County Durham (Echo, May 26).

A group of people elected to serve the voters' best interests find it more important to revert to politics and blame each other rather than apply themselves to a sensible solution.

Once again we see how easy it is to spend the already overtaxed council tax payers' money.

Council tax has risen every year since it was introduced. With the situation in that field near Crook, could a refund be too much to expect?

Frank Neagle, Willington, Crook, Co Durham.