SIR – I listened to a motorist telling a BBC Look North reporter that he had to work overtime to pay for the petrol he used daily to get him to and from his place of employment.

Then I read (T&A, April 14) that Bradford Council paid 65p per mile to employees who used their own car for work.

Matthew Sinclair, director of the Taxpayers Alliance, said that “ordinary motorists who are feeling the pinch will be shocked that council staff are getting such a deal, and it simply isn’t fair”.

Thank goodness ways of opting out of this mileage rate agreement made between local government employers’ groups and unions are, according to Matt Burghardt, Bradford Council’s assistant director for human resources, being looked at.

Not before time, seeing that Bradford Council paid out more than £2 million of taxpayers’ money in mileage expenses in 2009/10.

David Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford