BROWSING through Malvern Hills District Council's annual report the other day made me realise how lucky we are to be living in Malvern Hills.

We may be the smallest district in Worcestershire, with a population of only 74,000, but, so what, we have the largest and fastest-growing senior management team in the county.

Three years ago, we only had four officers paid over £50,000. Now we have ten earning between £50,000 and £90,000. Compare that with Wychavon, which has just six officers paid over £50,000, with an extra 40,000 people to look after.

The benefit of having such a strong team is apparent when you look at the provision of public lavatories.

Wychavon have 12 of them whereas our officers are working hard to cut the number from ten to five, which will be "state-of-the-art facilities" complete with plugs in the hand-basins. Is there a local government law of diminishing loos: the increase in the number of top managers corresponds to a reduction in the number of public lavatories?

ALISTAIR MACMILLAN, Alexandra Lane, Malvern