IT was with sadness and disbelief that we read the two letters (Guardian, August 28) about Theydon Bois Action Group (TBAG) and the Independents.

Firstly, we felt sadness that two people can have so little faith in the democratic process that they believe the vast majority of voters in Theydon Bois are incapable of voting for their beliefs, that they are not intelligent enough to read the literature provided and that they were foolishly ‘duped’ into choosing the present councillors.

Secondly, we must express our disbelief at the inaccuracies of the two incredibly similar letters.

We both stood as Independents in the last election.

Neither of us are, or have been, members of TBAG.

We are proud to be associated with the other three Independents who have always stated they are members of TBAG.

They are not ‘vigilantes’ and have done much to improve the lives of Theydon Bois residents.

We stood because we felt we had the time and energy to help move Theydon Bois forward and we are grateful to the people who voted for us to do this.

There are 11 councillors, three of whom are members of TBAG this does not account for half the parish council.

Finally, it has come to our notice that both these letters were written by members of one of our fellow councillor’s family. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but... need we say more?

Councillor Jenny Berry and councillor Paul Vincent, Theydon Bois Parish Council