Sir, – There have been numerous comments in the press about the 25 per cent increase in salary of the chief executive of Hambleton District Council Phil Morton.

Council leader Mark Robson said the increase had been publicised on the council website. I am afraid that Cllr Robson’s idea of publicity and mine are completely different.

Yes, you will find it on the council website if you trawl through pages and pages looking for it.

Let me save your readers the effort of doing that. Go onto the website, click on Council and Democracy, then on Budgets, and then on Statement of Accounts, and then on Statement of Accounts for 2013/14.

I will save you the effort of reading all 101 pages. The one that will interest you is page 72, and yes if you look at the figures from the previous years you will with the aid of a calculator be able to work out that the chief executive has had a salary increase in the order of 25 per cent although it does not say this in so many words.

I am sure you will agree with me that Cllr Robson’s idea of publicising something leaves a lot to be desired.

What is interesting, however, on page 72 is that it states that the chief executive’s salary is £129,450 not the £125,000 as quoted in the press, it also lists four directors and the chief executive not three as stated by Cllr Robson; perhaps he would care to clarify this for your readers.

If Cllr Robson’s figures are correct and three people can now do work that five did previously then the five must be have been seriously under employed which makes you wonder how many other departments function like this at Hambleton District Council.

However, one small crumb of comfort did come from one of Cllr Robson’s comments: “Phil Morton has a background in economic development.

Our economic strategy will put prosperity into the heart of the community in Hambleton and he will play a significant role in that.”

If that is the case then we can only hope that Mr Morton puts this expertise into practice and advises the council against the folly of spending £400,000 on the white elephant car park, aka The Gateway Car Park, Bedale, and tell them that there are far better ways of spending that amount of money to put prosperity into the heart of the community.

BILL TETLOW Exelby, Bedale.