SIR — At West Somerset Council's meeting last Wednesday it was suggested that councillors feel they are being 'bullied' into making a decision over the authority's future (Free Press Friday December 14).

Furthermore there was an allegation from one councillor that I have declared West Somerset Council to be 'dead in the water', a statement I have never made.

For the benefit of your readers the facts are these:

Councillors and council officials have been told in person by both the Local Government Association and Government Ministers on many occasions that they have to sort out the authority's problems or in the near future it is likely to go bust.

It is not 'bullying' for a parent to tell a child off for spending all its pocket money, which is essentially what has happened.

If the council does go bust, it will be bad for local government, bad for the county and above all bad for my constituents in West Somerset.

As the local Member of Parliament, I am elected to represent all my constituents and work on their behalf, and so it is only right that I support the Government of the day in whatever action it deems necessary to protect my constituents' interests.

I shall, therefore, continue to support all efforts by Government, other local authorities and the Local Government Association to rectify the unsustainable situation West Somerset Council now finds itself in.

MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset.