As an out of towner I felt I must comment on the jaw-droppingly ridiculous, mind-numbingly nonsensical farce surrounding ‘jungle drumgate’.

Does Wiltshire realise that the whole of the rest of the country is splitting its sides with laughter and amazement that this ludicrous spat in a teacup was allowed to go any further than the council chamber? I mean, who is this expert on racism who accused Mrs Farquhar, resulting in the production of a ten-page report?

As a result, a highly respected member of Wiltshire Involvement Network, with years of dedicated public service behind her, has been pilloried for using the term jungle drums, which has been in continual use in the English language for more that 100 years and is another word for gossip.

Look in the thesaurus and you will find it.

Maybe Mrs Farquhar should have used the term bush telegraph, or would that also have offended the delicate Devizes sensibilities and been termed racist?

For pity’s sake, come on Wiltshire, you’re better than this.

Malcolm Wood, Westercroft View, Halifax.