Sir, - For a man who took the trouble to put pen to paper complaining about Northallerton Town Council Mr Parminter (D&S letters, Dec 6) seems to know little about local government hereabouts.

He writes that "if the town council had been a bit more thoughtful with our money" they would not have had to ask for more for the Christmas lights. Mr Parminter wrote from a Romanby address and his use of the word "our" reveals his ignorance for, as a Romanby resident, he pays not a penny towards the various items mentioned in his letter. Despite the fact that Romanby residents enjoy the benefits of the annual lights Romanby Parish Council makes no contribution towards them despite being invited to do so.

There is no doubt that Northallerton and Romanby now form one conurbation. They ought to be run by one council. For generations they used to be run as one entity by the "four-and-twenty", twenty men from Northallerton and four from Romanby. It is unfortunate that since 1894 Romanby has had a separate parish council.

Your Looking Back column of October 5 last year revealed that 100 years ago attempts were being made to get Romanby included in Northallerton Urban District.

Your predecessor at that time was undoubtedly right when he said "perhaps an impartial judge would admit that Northallerton has a strong case ... Romanby and Northallerton are practically one place ... Romanby derives all the advantages of the town ... The interests of the two towns are altogether interwoven".

The case for common local government is now much stronger for even more obviously we are all members of one community with interwoven interests. There can be no doubt about this as evidenced by Mr Parminter himself who, like many other residents of Romanby, thinks he is a resident of Northallerton. He thinks this despite the fact that as a resident of Romanby he pays a lower parish council tax because Romanby derives the benefits of its proximity to Northallerton on the cheap. The Christmas lights about which Mr Parminter complains are just one example.

D F SEVERS

Borrowby Avenue,

Northallerton.

PS: The encore played by the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra at Middlesbrough Town Hall last week was Sibelius' Valse Triste, not the piece by Neilson suggested by your reviewer.

Euro knowledge

Sir, - J Heslop's letter (D&S, Dec 6) surprises me. He deplores the lack of factual information on the 'euro, European constitution, and regional assemblies'. The local branch of the European Movement organised in Darlington this year three public meetings with information displays and two information stalls. Mr Heslop attended two of the meetings. Plenty of literature was there.

Did Mr Hislop not know what to choose for taking away to read? Darlington Public Library will help him if he goes there to find the factual information he seeks.

And there's the European Commission, Jean Monnet House, 8 Storeys Gate, London SW1P 3AT, tel: 020 7973 1992. internet: www.ce3c.org.uk

D J WHITTAKER

Mile Planting,

Richmond.

Sir, - Mr Heslop, as a self-professed inter-continental traveller, must be aware of the falsehood of his claim (D&S, Nov 29), that France and Germany want their old currencies back.

He must also know that the Euro is a stable currency maintaining parity with the US$, is accepted in many outlets in the UK, including Marks & Spencer, and is here to stay.

He also dos not tell us that the 12 member states of the Eurozone he mentions (D&S, Dec.6), will enlarge in 2004 to 25, including Malta and Cyprus and will create the largest market place in the world.

The www.democracymovement. website he recommends, apart from being a misnomer, is hardly likely, judging by his letters so far, to present a balanced and reasoned overview on the Euro, which the reader will find at www.britainineurope.org.uk

OLLY ANDRLA

Press Officer,

Richmond Labour Party