I WAS extremely saddened to read (Echo, May 2) that Lonnie Donegan, aged 71, has had to undergo his third heart operation in London.

Lonnie, who has been plagued with heart problems since the early 1970s, has just completed a successful UK tour, his first in many years.

Since the 1950s, when Lonnie burst on to the music scene as the King of Skiffle, he was a significant influence, not just on the youths who bought the records, but on many budding performers of the time.

Among the many who always refer to Lonnie as an influence and a hero, are Elton John, Rory Gallagher, Zoot Money and Ronnie Wood.

Lonnie's roots are in jazz, blues, folk music and gospel (he was the original banjo player in Chris Barber's Jazz Band).

He took the name Lonnie (real name Anthony James Donegan, born April 29, 1931, in Glasgow) from his own hero, bluesman Lonnie Johnson. He successfully brought all of these music styles together in a wonderful hybrid called skiffle. The music industry was never the same from that moment on.

I know I will speak for many readers in wishing Lonnie a speedy recovery from his current difficulties. To those of us of a certain age, you are still the tops. Get well soon. - Dave Pascoe, Hartlepool.

DURHAM COUNCIL

DURHAM County Council is going to spend £175,000 on computers for councillors at home. So this is what the highest council tax in the country is for.

Not satisfied with computers in their offices, they want them at home with access to e-mail and the Internet. We will have to pay £105,000-a-year running costs.

Does it mean these councillors will give up their travelling expenses and extra payments for out-of-hours meetings to meet the cost? - Bob Golden, Durham.

DURHAM'S computers work out at £2,869 per household to supply and install, and £1,721 per household to run and maintain. And who foots the bill for training?

What exactly is the council business they are to be used for? Will councillors' families have free, unlimited access to the Internet and to the PCs? What happens when a councillor retires or is not re-elected? Who pays the disconnection? What is the cost of administering this scheme?

These are just a few questions all taxpayers have a right to have answered before any such scheme proceeds. - Brian Collins, Spennymoor.

IT'S an absolute disgrace, another kick in the teeth for the good people of Durham.

The views of the people have been well chronicled in the local newspapers. Everybody should stop paying their council tax for one year.

May I remind the 61 councillors that they are there to serve the people and not themselves. The simple answer is to buy the computers out of their own pockets. - DT Murray, Coxhoe.

I APPLAUD Durham's attempt at embracing the future, but not at the public's expense.

To say the computers will enable "councillors to communicate better with the public" assumes all members of the public have already installed a PC at their own expense.

County Hall was recently modernised to afford councillors full access to modern technology. So we upgrade HQ, then encourage members to work from home.

Twice the expense, when the fate of local authorities remains uncertain with the push for regional government.

The costing equates to nearly £3,000 per installation, or about four times the going rate. If these Labour lads had any principles, they would simply refuse the offer.

Wake up Durham. - Jim Tague, Chairman. Conservative Party, Bishop Auckland Branch.

RICHMONDSHIRE COUNCIL

RICHMONDSHIRE council has sent 11 members of staff on an adventure training course at Aske Hall (Echo, May 1).

The timing was not right when taxpayers had had to dig deeper into their pockets to pay the massive increase in Richmondshire council tax.

Firms have sent employees on such courses for years and it is seen as the way forward.

But why go to the Morritt Arms at Greta Bridge for two nights? It's only a couple of miles from Richmond to Aske Hall, so why couldn't a minibus have been hired? All 11 of them could have gone back to Swale House and talked about the day. No one would have known they were there - we would never have known about the waste of money if someone had not taken photographs.

There should be a special meeting about this issue. Public servants are accountable to the taxpayers. It is the people's money. - Ann French, Colburn.

WEAR VALLEY COUNCIL

CONGRATULATIONS to Wear Valley District Council on its brilliant initiative which encourages employment (glassmakers and glaziers) and provides more leisure pursuits for the youth of Woodhouse Close Estate, Bishop Auckland.

Security screens on empty council property have been replaced by lace curtains. The result is a new game said by some to become a new Olympic sport: smash as many windows in the shortest time. - NA Button, Bishop Auckland.

HAVING lived in Bishop Auckland all my life, I learned with anger and amazement that the new fence outside the Station View Medical Centre, Escomb Road, Bishop Auckland, has to be removed because Wear Valley Council thinks it is an eyesore.

It has made a 100 per cent improvement to Escomb Road, which was a complete eyesore for 20 years until the medical centre was built. I have been a patient with that practice for the past 57 years and have seen nothing but improvements.

Instead of wasting money on surveys, the council should consider tidying up the rest of Escomb Road. - A Clarke, Bishop Auckland.

WILLINGTON Labour Party is appalled by the abject appearance of the former Priceless building in Willington.

Many thousands of pounds have been spent in recent months on the regeneration of the high street, but this derelict building is a blot on the environment and requires urgent action.

We appreciate that negotiations have been ongoing for years to redevelop this site, but the Willington people can't be expected to wait any longer. - Brian Myers, Secretary, Willington Labour Party.

THE NORTH-EAST

IN RECENT times the North-East has delivered to the nation Messrs Andrew Spence, the self-proclaimed leader of the fuel tax protestors, and Steven Thoburn, the Metric Martyr.

Now, in a similar vein, the good people of Hartlepool vote for a man dressed in a monkey suit to represent them.

This begs the question: does the art of self-depreciation know no limits in the region? - Name and address supplied.