IF you value conformity and subservience above free speech and transparency, then my behaviour at Ledbury Town Council’s final meeting on April 16 was out of order.

But if you accept that there are moments when it is necessary to break the rules when all other avenues have been exhausted in order to tell the truth, then what I did was justified; my only recourse in fact.

Anyway, it was not such a great crime, reading out a resignation statement, as is my right, and refusing to be bullied into submission.

The incident is illustrative of the deep vein of anti-democratic, intolerant and dictatorial behaviour of entrenched members of Ledbury Town Council who are unable to let anyone question or offer dissent, much less to shine a light on potential wrongdoing.

I applaud the town council's high standards in upholding its rules and traditions in the pomp and convention of its meetings.

It is just a pity that the council doesn't apply those same standards to the way it handles large sums of public money, to the management of consultant contracts, and to the manner in which it treats its elected councillors.

Richard Hadley

Ledbury