HOW depressing, A two-and-a-half per cent pay rise when we are making cuts. Look at the state of our beleaguered town centre.

TVBC are only interested in talking about licenses for A-boards and talking about new signs. They are utterly clueless but hey, Mr Tetstall deserves a £3,000 pay rise.

The population of Andover is rapidly growing with houses almost sprouting out of the ground each week, yet our infrastructure is in decline and the people of Andover are now seeing it.

Now while I know the Andover War Memorial Hospital may not be the sole responsibility of TVBC, my question is why are none of the current borough councillors campaigning for the return of a Critical Care unit to be reinstated? Why, when I talk with them, do they agree with me yet none step up to the plate? We no longer have any Critical Care facilities in Andover so for major incidents we have to travel some 18-20 miles to either Winchester or Basingstoke and then the wait for the over-burdened ambulance service (which are also effected by the cutbacks) means that any treatment needed in theatre could well be up to one hour. The new hospital being discussed for junction seven of the M3 is not good enough, it’s too far away. If any of the Conservative councillors were to start a campaign for a Critical Care unit to be installed into the Andover War Memorial Hospital then Ukip North West Hampshire would be delighted to join forces and fight to achieve this.

Justifying Mr Tetstall’s salary by saying he is in charge of a £75million turnover is laughable and says everything that is wrong with this country. Quite simply, we need a change in the mindset at TVBC.

Ukip came a close second in the local elections and we will push on and work towards putting ourselves in a position to challenge the failing Tories.

Daniel Emmerson, Chairman Ukip, North West Hampshire, via e-mail