WAYNE ROONEY has been given a new £300,000-per-week contract by Manchester United, a club with huge debts. This amounts to about £16m-a-year.

Surely, there is a need for some debt management, among our premier league clubs.

Owner Mike Ashley may not be popular at Newcastle United, but he did write off their tax debts and balanced their books.

While serving on the new County Durham unitary authority, opposition councillors called for a salary reduction for the chief executive and his directors. Yet with their responsibilities, their incomes are modest, compared to premier league footballers.

Ben Ord, Spennymoor.

THE Chief Executive of Durham County Council, George Garlick, has a massive salary and so consequently do the leader of the council and departmental heads.

The Vice Chancellor of Durham University, Professor Chris Higgins, also has a massive salary which has similarly been claimed by other Russell Group vice chancellors. In one way or another this money must come from public funds and taxpayers.

Would it not be appropriate for us to be informed where and in what proportion these salaries are paid from these sources?

If these people (public servants we used to call them) agreed to take reduced salaries, the local people could no doubt suggest ways to utilise the savings: on children’s playgrounds, libraries, living wage for lower paid staff, rural bus services, food banks and the like!

Maybe those excessive salaries paid to officers are why central government holds back on extra funding for our region?

Janet Murrell, Durham Moor.