GRAHAM Jones in his criticisms of Malvern Hills District Council (Gazette, December 26) said, among other things, that councillors have had generous pay increases.

As an ever so humble backbencher I can assure him that this is not the case.

In fact, I have not had nor sought one for the past five years.

It is true that our senior members did indeed have an increase, but there was at least one of them, Julian Roskams, who donated their increase to local charities.

This was a matter of public record at the time.

To conclude, a lot of the points made in Mr Jones's letter are valid, but he should have checked his facts regarding salaries.

Clive Smith

Malvern Hills district councillor