What a strange beast Adur District Council is.

After its own scrutiny meeting agreed the matter had been handled abominably by the council and, after through no fault of the traders, the rent reviews are now almost two years late.

What did the council do to apologise for this treatment? It issued an ultimatum to traders, giving them only a matter of hours to reply and then, at a meeting, decided at a stroke the traders had taken too long to reply and imposed the decision it set out for in the first place, with paperwork to prove it.

And what was so outlandish about the traders' "demands?"

They wanted the right to meaningful negotiations, something that had been carried out with no problems for the past 39 years.

Is it any wonder local government does not get support from its people any more? Because, clearly, local government has forgotten that its remit is to serve.

-John Stevens, Roman Crescent, Southwick