In your reporting of the court case between myself and Brighton and Hove City Council (The Argus, June 16), I feel your article, by printing the current value of my house (an irrelevant fact), was insinuating I am somehow abusing the State by making use of the Legal Aid to which I am entitled.

As with most property owners, the obscene housing market has made me relatively asset-rich but cash-poor.

This does not mean I can afford expensive legal actions which could result in the loss of my house, the very thing I am trying to protect.

Even the most modest home owner in Brighton is sitting on an asset worth well in excess of £200,000.

We are therefore all rich compared to those, mostly young, people who have no chance of a place on the property ladder.

For your article to make me out to be a rich man is completely disingenuous.

I had hoped to end my days in peace and quiet rather than battling commercial interests the same purely business interests which saw Goldstone sold off under the fans' noses, resulting in the mess we all face today.

But as The Argus is apparently so concerned over the use of public money, maybe it can investigate and report how much Brighton and Hove Albion owes our council and if and when this money is likely to be paid back.

I have repeatedly tried to obtain the exact amount under the Freedom of Information Act but have been stubbornly refused on the grounds it is commercially sensitive and could easily place the football club in a precarious financial position.

This makes me believe it could be a substantial amount.

For my own position, unlike the council, when your reporter enquired into my finances, I was completely open as I have absolutely nothing to hide.

Taxpayers deserve to know how much our council is subsidising a private company.

-John Catt, Brighton