ONCE again, Durham County Council has deemed it appropriate to light up the trees and shrubs on the roundabout near to Tesco, Newton Aycliffe.

This year, many more lights have been added.

I am sure the council will argue that as they are LED lights, this renders them cheap to run, but how can it justify the capital outlay for the lights in the first place?

We have requested a salt bin at the end of our road for several years as we are often unable to get off our housing estate in bad weather making it difficult, at times impossible, to get to work.

There are at least 11 disabled people in our vicinity – how are they supposed to access shopping facilities if they are unable to use their car?

We have requested some lighting to the rear of our properties – the rear is the only vehicular access and is full of dangerously deep pot holes.

But all our requests are to no avail.

It is high time Durham County Council took a long hard look at its priorities. Christmas lights should be at the bottom of the spending list!

Val Halton, Newton Aycliffe.