Though I have moved from the area, I still take an interest in Hounslow.

Thirty odd years ago I was a rent collector for Hounslow Council. We would collect rents from a van for part of the day and visit the elderly or disabled individually by arrangement.

Imagine wandering round some of the estates with a rent book and a bag of money today.

For the indidivual visits we would use our cars and receive out of pocket allowances, mostly for petrol.

Cllr Peter Thompson claims (Letters Chronicle, January 15) that councillors' allowances permit someone who is not rich, or retired, to serve in a leadership role.

But these allowances top £26,000. It is difficult to see what out-of-pocket expenses one could incur to achieve this amount. In the past I had friends who became councillors in Houslow. They stood out of an interest in politics and a desire to serve.

£26,000 could secure the salary of an extra nurse at my birthplace, West Mid hospital, and councillors could serve for the honour of doing so, reasonable expenses allowed, as they did in the past.

DAVIE NICHOLSON Albert Street, Windsor.