I SEE once again our illustrious council is paying over the odds for employees.

The salaries quoted in the Echo are indeed a disgrace. We are a unitary council which cannot afford to supply the local taxpayers with even half-decent services, yet we can still pay salaries at this level. I do not accept that these people would expect the same or even higher salaries in private industry. The reason they are in council employment is because their performance would not be tolerated in a private company which demands results and profit-making performances from its employees. Maybe they should move into private industry and miss out on the pension payments and severance deals which would not be available. The saying you get what you pay for' is not true in this instance.

GEORGE BIRKETT, Southampton.