Lord Bassam promises us a mayor would be able to get to grips with the big problems facing the city (August 24)

To think that merely appointing a no doubt very highly-paid person would suddenly find answers to such vexed questions as rubbish collection, street cleaning and traffic congestion is begging belief.

Granted, the cities Lord Bassam quotes are quite well run but one has to remember they are all much bigger than Brighton and Hove, with its narrow roads and lack of space for development.

Although now called a city, we are still just a large town whose problems have been exacerbated by encouraging too many people, businesses and, with them, traffic to come into the area without the infrastructure to support them.

Messrs Bassam, Fanshawe and other pro-mayor candidates are partly responsible for the mess we are now in.

-M Thompson, Buckingham Road, Brighton