IN RESPONSE to yet another negative letter about Trowbridge from D Roberts in last week's Wiltshire Times, please allow me to make the following points.

1. As major of Trowbridge I receive absolutely no payment whatsoever. This continues the longstanding tradition of Trowbridge Town Council.

2. I have attended various meetings and sessions around the county at my own expense arguing the case for retaining the magistrates court in Trowbridge.

3. In my capacity as mayor I have spent numerous hours, without expenses, working to prevent the transfer of the County Record Office from Trowbridge to Devizes. The effort may yet prove successful.

4. Over the past five years I have been in discussion with various business interests with the objective of bringing a cinema to Trowbridge. Again, this was done entirely at my own expense for the good of the town. The fact that retail outlets are now more likely than a cinema is purely a business, and not a political, decision. Unless, that is, D Roberts wants me to double his and all the others in Trowbridge council tax to subsidise the movies.

5. What have you done D Roberts apart from writing negative letters? Please accept my challenge. Get yourself elected and do better. I would probably welcome the opportunity to spend more time with my family and make some money from business.

6. Please stop running down our town. Be positive, for once, and work with myself and others for the benefit of all the people of Trowbridge.

JEFF OSBORN,