Thank you for bringing to our attention (LT, December 27) that £1.8m of taxpayers' money has been spent by Lancashire Police on probing a bomb plot.

I am extremely unhappy about this situation. The threat of Al Qaeda terrorism arose during the first Gulf War, principally when US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia behaved in a drunken, lewd and lascivious fashion, ignoring local custom.

The terrorists are still trying to get them off holy land.

The Labour government, including Jack Straw, has made the problem worse with a second war, declared illegal by the UN Secretary General. Tens of thousands, possibly over a hundred thousand Iraqi innocents have been killed.

This is as if a town the size of Burnley had been destroyed with all inhabitants slaughtered. It should be no surprise that some people from the region are driven to retaliate.

Bringing this home, the people of Lancashire pay a lot for services that are sometimes cut to the bare minimum because of financial restraints. We wanted our police to fight anti-social behaviour, not terrorism.

I hope that on this occasion, the full costs will be met not by the Lancashire council tax payer, but by the Treasury.

COUN BILL BENNETT, Queensgate ward, Burnley.