Sir, - A student of waste in public expenditure would do well to consider the latest example provided by a combination of Hambleton Council and the Audit Commission.

Today four identical letters arrived at my house, all posted second-class by the council.

There were two each for my wife and myself and the irony is that the first paragraph refers to "the proper spending of public money" and the second commences with the ringing statement that "The council is required by law to protect the public funds which it administers".

As a council tax payer I was concerned at this waste and enquired about the reason. I understand that the collation of the letters was subcontracted to an outside agency which has clearly duplicated a number of names and addresses. I asked if the cost involved will be recouped from those responsible, but I am not sure if this will be done.

However, there is a greater concern, in that the letter is to inform bus pass holders that the Audit Commission is carrying out a data matching exercise designed to prevent fraud.

The letter itself says that they have the power to do this without the consent of the bus pass holders, but I gather the Audit Commission is insisting on letters such as this being sent out by councils up and down the country. It would be interesting, using the Freedom of Information Act, to find out just how much this pointless exercise is costing us all, and how much fraud is likely to occur involving the pensioners who hold such passes?

There is also the question of why the Audit Commission could not have told the councils, when issuing the bus passes, to include this information as part of the original letter. A little thought would have saved a lot of money.

As a result of this crass incompetence, a vast amount of paper and postage is being wasted to no purpose at all and it is particularly annoying that this should happen at a time when all of us are having to economise as much as possible.

I sincerely hope that the council tax charge will not have to bear this expense. Of course, if the Audit Commission is made to pay instead it will fall on general rather than local taxation, so many of us will suffer anyway.

Whatever happens, we can be absolutely sure that no-one at the Audit Commission will lost their well-paid (and apparently quite futile) job.

GORDON HETHERINGTON Low Green, Great Ayton.