I heartily agree with Chris Todd's criticism of Brighton and Hove Council's campaign for a directly elected mayor (Opinion, February 7).

The last thing we need is an extra layer of bureaucracy, full of overpaid and unproductive officials searching for new ways of spending our money.

The council has already presided over a decline in public services, deterioration of the infrastructure and incompetent planning which has reduced many areas of the town to a traffic-choked gridlock.

Expensive failure should not be celebrated. Let us have a radical re-think of local government strategy, reduce the number of councillors with their 70 per cent pay increases and cut council tax by one-third.

-Christopher Read, St Leonards Gardens, Hove