IT WAS really interesting reading the opinion councillor Angela Lawrence was trying to get across in the Big Issue (Tuesday’s Oxford Mail), thinking of sensible options regarding the Diamond Jubilee, ensuring it still gets celebrated and remembered but at minimum cost.

However, councillor Sandy Lovatt, what millionaire lifestyle do you think this budget of £50,000 for celebrations in Abingdon is coming from?

I am a builder and, while you may wonder what this has to do with the Diamond Jubilee, if I were to tell a customer that their extension would cost £40,000 but I want them to have £50,000 just to make sure I have enough, but in reality it will only cost them £25,000, I know, without a doubt, I would be told to get lost.

Mr Lovatt should be told to go away and do his sums correctly and come back with an exact budget, with no buffer zone to cover any mistakes.

Times are tough out there at the moment, and for someone involved in spending taxpayers’ money to offer such a laid-back opinion is an embarrassment.

THOMAS MOLLOY, Underhill Circus, Headington, Oxford