Sir, People should not be misled by county council leader Keith Mitchell's pledge "to stand up" for people who would be most affected by Thames Water's reservoir proposals. Keith Mitchell has previously indicated his support for the reservoir and what he appears to mean by this statement is that he will support negotiating with Thames Water for what is facetiously known as "planning gain". A question of you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. But if Thames Water gets approval for its proposal, then the only gain is likely to be for Thames Water. With such a huge sum of money at stake it will give short shrift to fleas itching its back.

A suggestion in the 1980s was for a reservoir at Otmoor and I am sure Keith Mitchell wants to divert attention away from that, even though it might be the answer to Oxford's flooding problems. The Abingdon proposal isn't.

As a Conservative councillor he should be supporting his local Conservative MP who has publicly declared his opposition to the proposal and do likewise in unambiguous terms.

Clive Spinage, Faringdon