ON reading Michael Townson's letter under the heading 'Cultural Change' (Your Letters, February 11), I was reminded of an article I read in View from the Hills, a Malvern Hills District Council publication, informing us of the results of a local survey, which the council had undertaken.

The point of the article was for the council to congratulate itself because two out of every three residents of Malvern are apparently satisfied with council services.

The best rating is that only 84 per cent of the population are satisfied with waste collection. This would sound splendid, if it were not for the fact that actually one in six Council Tax-payers are dissatisfied - a considerable proportion.

I am one of the dissatisfied residents. From January, 2004, the collection of my waste ceased. Despite numerous calls to the Malvern Council Customer Service Centre, the problem remained unsolved.

On May 13 and again on May 24 I e-mailed Chris Bocock, the chief executive of Malvern Hills District Council, on the subject but to no avail. He passed on my correspondence.

Mr Bocock should take time to consider his relationship to the taxpayers who pay his salary. As I addressed my e-mails to him, he should have offered me the courtesy of a personal reply and taken some direct and effective action himself.

The waste disposal problem was eventually resolved on November 11, months after it began.

Presumably Mr Bocock would regard this as a cause for satisfaction.

Perhaps more of your readers would like to inform us about their experiences with local council officers, for despite all the spin in their own publication, there must remain serious doubt about their ability to give value for money, which is what the Audit Commission is actually saying by only giving the council a mediocre rating.

FRANK SHIPWAY, Graham Road, Malvern.