It is interesting to read the short-term finger-pointing of blame in The Argus letters pages.

Residents of Brighton and Hove must be aware that fines now imposed by the police for whatever reason (and there seem to be more every day) are just another form of tax to pay themselves because the local authority has reduced the funds available to the police since the current government reduced the subsidy available to the local authority.

And if you do not get a response to your crime, please remember that Brighton police force has had to reduce its manpower by 300 officers over the past ten years - in an expanding city.

-Robert Barnett, Green Ridge, Westdene