Does not this act demonstrate clearly the undemocratic, dictatorial authoritarian attitude that has permeated certain departments of Leeds City Council, the evidence of which is being constantly recognised and highlighted in your columns?

That the executive board can overrule the scrutiny board who had been invited to consider the procedures of decision-making to be proper and correct is, to my mind, nothing short of scandalous.

Using a ruse of potentially being sued should there be an accident is a scaremongering tactic designed to cause concern and suppress objections. Allowing work to commence in advance of the scrutiny board findings being made public is a fait acompli, rendering the scrutiny board findings an unnecessary waste of council taxpayers' monies.

I feel the Leeds City Council executive board should be challenged to demonstrate to the people of Otley how long sections of the River Wharfe remain unfenced and also, the number of times over that period council have had actions to sue brought against them in relation to an accident on the River Wharfe at Wharf Meadows Park.

If the council were to install fencing at Wharfe Meadows Park on the premised that they hold then how many more miles of fencing will they be obliged to erect to fulfil their duty of care in areas that can be identified as a hazard to the public along a number of other rivers?

D G Wall, Allerton Bywater