Sir - Having, like many other pensioners, voted in the city council election on May 1, I was keen to know the results especially in my own ward where the contest was close, we were told.

I therefore turned on BBC Radio Oxford at 6.20am on Friday, May 2. After a while the announcer said that shortly after 7am there would be a "round-up of election results". Eventually Shabina said that Labour had gained four seats and would lead the council - but no individual wards or winners were mentioned.

Later I 'phoned to complain and was told that "sadly it would take too long". Actually it would take just two minutes to name the winners and their party in each of the 24 city wards. Two minutes, or four minutes if repeated, out of hours of broadcasting every day of the year. I thought public service was part of the BBC's job . . .

So I went early to the newsagent to buy the Oxford Mail. I added up the figures and worked out that roughly 35 per cent of voters had voted Labour, 23 per cent Lib Dem, 20 per cent Conservative, 17 per cent Green and five per cent others. If seats had been awarded in proportion, Labour would have 8, Lib Dem 5, Conservatives five, Greens four and others one. In fact Labour won 12 and Lib-Dems eight and Conservatives none! How unfair. As a democrat I find it disgraceful that 20 per cent of Oxford voters are now unrepresented in the city council. This is a result of the old-fashioned, first-past-the-post system which every other European country abandoned long ago. It means that at the next General Election the Government of the UK will be decided by a few thousand floating voters in some 50 or so 'marginal seats' - voters who probably have little knowledge of politics but are open to bribery and intimidation, not to mention phony postal voting!

M. Hugh-Jones, Oxford