Having read the coverage of the county and town hall councillors' food bills, may I suggest the leaders of the councils and the catering staff managers enroll in a local Scout Group to pick up some tips on how to cater on the cheap and not go hungry.

I have just spent seven days at our annual Summer Troop Camp, in the middle of a field with only wood fires or small calor gas stoves to cook on, catering for no less than ten people. The total cost of all the food and drinks for the seven days was just £267.80.

This covered the costs of 70 breakfasts including fruit juices, some cooked meals or cereals or grapefruit, bread butter etc, 60 various lunch snacks varying from sandwiches to stuffed Pitta bread or savoury biscuits with cheeses, side salads etc. with soft drinks and fresh fruit, 60 cooked evening meals with sweets, one of which was a BBQ for 36 people on a visitors night, the others including deep filled steak pies, boiled bacon joints, ham pasta dish, fish, most with potatoes and two veg, and 70 light suppers of hot or cold drink and biscuits, and finally ten "eat out" burger meals on our last night in camp as a treat.

If my calculations are right, this makes an average of £1.40 per meal of which, incidentally, only one was beans and sausages and that was a breakfast.

If anyone of the councillors or caterers would like a copy of the menu I used, please don't hesitate to write.

-Derek Ifould, 2nd Worthing Scout Group Leader, Worthing