Having been the victim of an accident involving an uninsured driver, it can be a very complicated and unfair process.
Fortunately I escaped injury, but ultimately I had to foot the cost of repairs despite the courts supposedly ordering the other driver to pay compensation.

They escaped with a rather pathetic fine, and I'm still waiting for my payments two years on.
I'm encouraged that the police are taking it seriously, but to see more than 140 people a month being caught for the offence shows that the punishment is not enough of a deterrent.

This is a very serious offence and can leave families financially devastated, particularly if someone is seriously injured.
Mr P Baker
Hunts

Don't forget the Jubilee Hall
>> IT is lovely to see that St Neots Town Council has taken out a loan to help out the new Eaton Socon Community Centre to the value of £350,000 (Town Crier, July 10).

It's a shame that some of the money couldn't be used to upgrade the Jubilee Hall, as they applied to the council for a £16,000 grant to refurbish the hall with a new ceiling and painted walls. 

I have been the booking agent for the hall for the last 10 years and find it interesting to see some new ideas boosted and encouraged, while other well used and loved buildings are left to decline – or is it my paranoia?
Cherie Luckman

Strike too far
>> I WAS dismayed to see so much coverage on the strike by Government workers (Town Crier, July 17).
These people need to accept that everyone is going through a tough time at the moment, but I guess people in the public sector seem to live in a different world – usually one that lasts from 9am to 5pm on the dot.

Most council staff have greater job security than those of us at private companies, and having worked for a council before I've seen so much public money wasted by workers more content to clock-watch and to live by bureaucratic and often ridiculous rules, particularly if it means they don't have to put any extra effort in.
T Jacobs
Hunts

Prime Minister of St Neots?>> AS a St Neots resident, I want to know what right councillors have to overrule the wishes of the electorate?
I did not vote for Cllr Chapman or the Tories, but fully agree with his stand against Derek Giles' "New Order". 
I am left wondering what councillors think they are doing?

Did they underestimate the commitment needed as a councillor and for that reason, want to surrender their responsibilities to Derek?
Councillors should stand down and let someone else have a go if the job is more than they expected.
If Derek wants to be Prime Minister of St Neots, he should first ask the people if it is what they want.
Miss Powell
St Neots

>> I would take issue with several of Cllr Derek Giles' comments (Town Crier, July 17).
The Cabinet and leader system at Huntingdonshire District Council was voted in by the people of Huntingdonshire. Perhaps Cllr Giles would like to put forward a referendum for the people of St Neots to decide if they want an all powerful leader.

Secondly, although the HDC cabinet is made up of the ruling group, all the meetings of the Cabinet are open to the public, unlike the group meetings of the Lib Dems in St Neots, and all the decisions are published but not acted upon until the scrutiny panels have had a chance to consider whether they wish them to be called in. 

Furthermore, the scrutiny panel is made up of both parties and all members have the power to call in any decision for scrutiny. All Cabinet decisions called in for scrutiny cannot be acted upon until after the scrutiny panel has examined them.

As a former Cabinet member, several of my projects were called into scrutiny and they gave me a thorough workout, sometimes for as long as two hours. 
Those scrutiny meetings were never guillotined or under pressure to make way for other business.

So how do we, the public, get to see the decisions of the St Neots leader, before they are enacted and how do we get to know how to call them in for scrutiny? 
I am the chairman of a parish council and I for one ensure that nothing is discussed or decided outside the council meetings. 
Bob Barnes
St Neots

Just the facts
>> I BELIEVE it was the Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli who first remarked that there were "lies, damn lies and statistics".
It's amusing therefore to see Barry Chapman's attempts to manipulate statistics to somehow imply that the Lib Dem-run St Neots Town Council and its leader do not have a mandate.

Firstly, Mr Chapman (and it really is time you came to terms with this), the Conservatives lost the election to the town council last year and they lost them by 13 seats to 5.
It's called democracy. I know your party opposed its introduction throughout the 19th century, but surely it's time you came to terms with it?

Secondly, what is this nonsense about how many votes and what percentage of them were received by Derek Giles?
Of course Derek Giles received fewer votes than Diana Collins in Eynesbury. That's because Eynesbury has nearly 6,000 voters as opposed to a little over 4,000 in Eaton Socon. That's why Eynesbury elects six councillors compared to four for the other three wards.
Fewer dubious statistics and more facts please, Mr Chapman.
Martin Land
County Officer
Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats