SIR - As tenants we are concerned that a very small number of tenants, backed by a few local councillors, are distributing leaflets designed to worry council tenants about housing transfer. These are a few scare stories that need correcting:

* Rents will not go up as a result of transfer. The law requires that rents are set in exactly the same way whether the council or Hill and Vale Housing is the landlord.

* Stroud District Council is not trying to fool anyone. Why would it? The proposal document that the council has sent to tenants will form part of a legal agreement between the council and Hill and Vale Housing if the transfer goes ahead. For example, this means that Hill and Vale Housing will be legally bound to carry out the massive programme of improvements to homes detailed in the document.

* Those who circulate scare stories say that even if tenants vote "no" there will still be government money for repairs and improvements. What they conveniently forget to tell tenants is that government funding is not enough now and will get less in future years.

* They try to mislead tenants by just saying Hill and Vale would cost more to run. In the next six years Hill and Vale would spend three times more than the council could on improving our homes. More improvement to our homes means more staff. Yes that does mean higher management costs and a better service for us.

Hill and Vale Housing has been set up by the council with the help of tenant representatives. We firmly believe that transfer is the best way to provide quality rented housing in Stroud district now and in the future. Tenants should find out the facts before deciding how to vote.

All of us elected tenant representatives have had access to all the facts and we have had them checked. The small group of tenants sending you misleading information represent only ten per cent of all tenant bodies. The other 90 per cent of us have been working with the council to preserve and improve the services we will get.

Incidentally, the tenants leading the "vote no" campaign both live in the newest council homes in the district. Their detached bungalows were built just four years ago. They have new kitchens, new bathrooms and secure front and back doors. We ask ourselves, why do these tenants want to stop their fellow tenants living in the sort of modern, comfortable homes they live in?

Roy Haynes (Lower Kingshill tenant), Pauline Buchanan (Lower Kingshill tenant), Maureen Poole (Woodfield tenant), Dee Wright (Highfield Road tenant), Forward Looking Active tenants (flats) St George's Road, Kingshill, Dursley