It was very kind of Lord Bassam to respond (Letters, August 27) to my comments on directly-elected mayors.

I fully intend to plead guilty to his charge of wanting to save local democracy.

At the moment, the mayor is essentially a chairman of the board and the civic representative of the city.

It is seen as an honour to be undertaken by those councillors who have given years of unstinting service.

Both Tory and Labour administrations have not hesitated to reach out and elect outstanding personalities, regardless of their political allegiance. And that is as it should be.

A directly-elected mayor is a whole different ball game, having his or her own agenda and budget.

An inevitable split will develop with the directly-elected councillors. The mayor's budget will bring cronies, unelected politicians and minor celebrities, who will flock to the office like moths round a bright light.

All this energy and resources would be much better devoted to improving services for the public.

Lord Bassam is quite right to say cities throughout the world have directly-elected mayors.

But how many experience gross corruption and yearn to return to the British model?

It was not so long ago a French mayor was jailed for colluding with a private water company to rip-off the citizens of his city.

Do we really want that kind of poison in the bloodstream of our local government?

-John Hodgson, Capel Avenue, Peacehaven