WITH reference to Oban Airport and out-of-hours emergency helicopter fuelling (The Herald, December 3), Argyll and Bute Council says: "Providing fuel to the emergency services during out of hours has never been a council function."

After two approaches this year to take over our aviation fuelling business (which we rejected), the fuelling of aircraft is not in council hands. It is incredilbe that after a spend of £5m on Oban airport alone, and with four times the staff numbers, the council has managed to reduce aircraft use by 50% and now cannot even open it at night for emergency services. Argyll and Bute cannot afford this type of lunacy.

L Paul Keegan, Total Logistics Concepts, Aviation Support, Oban Airport.