Several weeks ago I wrote to the Croydon Guardian and suggested the Bensham Manor byelection would be the first real chance voters had to give their verdict on the first nine months of the Conservative council.

I confess even as Labour leader I did not quite imagine the verdict would be so damning - a 50 per cent drop in what the same Conservative candidate polled at the May election last year.

The Labour vote increased to more than 61 per cent. This bodes well for Labour's prospects at future local elections but our immediate task is to try and ensure this out of touch administration start to listen to the mounting concerns of local people.

The people have spoken and said very clearly they do not want street cleaning reduced, they do not want two schools in the north of Croydon closed, they do not want new sports centres scrapped at a cost of £1million of completely wasted public money and they do want to see our cultural heritage in the form of the Warehouse Theatre and Fairfield Halls supported not neglected and abandoned.

In the last two years the Labour council introduced borough-wide kerbside recycling, built and delivered a new sports centre in Thornton Heath, a new school in Ashburton and opened Europe's first family justice centre, tackling the crime of domestic violence.

This was achieved with council tax kept to the London average. This week the Conservative council will be putting our taxes up by considerably more than the London average, while at the same time cutting many local services.

Whether deliberate or through sheer incompetence no longer matters as the voters sent a clear message, they will not tolerate this arrogance and waste any longer.

It is time to shape up or ship out.

COUNCILLOR TONY NEWMAN Labour leader Croydon Council