I hear the £7,000 required to send a delegation to China in order to attend the Nations In Bloom competition has been raised through corporate sponsorship.

How on earth has this been achieved when the Town Hall is forever claiming local companies are unwilling to fund various town projects?

There are lots of projects on the drawing board that require "match funding" in order to unlock monies available through various grants, yet little headway seems to have been made in this direction.

For instance, the Town Centre Initiative is having an awful time trying to raise the cash needed from local businesses for Christmas lights. Strangely, its appeal has fallen short by £7,000.

I know I would rather see decent Christmas lights than a jolly to the Orient to attend a competition that is of no proven value to the town.

-Barry Emms, Manor Guest House, Broadwater Road, Worthing