At a time when the latest council tax bills are dropping through our letter boxes it may be of interest to some to know that Wiltshire has increased its expenditure on publicity by 343 per cent since the Year 1996/97.

We know this because under the Local Government Act of 1986, Part 2 Section 5 councils are required to keep a separate account of their expenditure on publicity which is deemed to be “any communication in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or to a section of the public”.

These figures are available on the internet: 1996/97 expenditure £693,000; 2007/08 expenditure £3,071,000.

I do wonder how much the cost of the implementation of European Union directives is involved. Will we ever know?

KM Green Robin Close Warminste