MAY I congratulate the county council for continuing its enlightened policy of letting the wild flowers of our verges and lanes flourish.

Gone are the swathes of grey and brown rotting vegetation that offended the eye in earlier years.

Now we see a kaleidoscope of colours that greet us at every turn. The yellows of the primroses, dandelions and daffodils have now gone, and the bluebells are fading, but in their place is a whole host of new delights.

The statuesque cow parsley, the buttercups, speedwell, cuckoo-pint, mallows and mulleins are there to grace the eye.

There are even orchids if you know where to look.

And so the seasons change and these plants will be replaced by others.

In their turn, they provide habitat for myriad insects, and seeds, which in turn are an essential larder for our nesting songbirds and their young.

Maybe this continuing policy will help to halt, or even reverse, the distressing decline of these beautiful creatures.

And last but not least, this reduction in a quite unnecessary substantial financial outlay will benefit the pockets of the hard-pressed taxpayer and the council budget.

LESLIE WILES Kimbolton