SIR – You report the agreement of members of both Chelsea and Yorkshire building societies to merge.

I am a member of YBS (pictured), but not Chelsea, so I attended the YBS EGM. Before anyone gets carried away with “overwhelming” as a description of the support the merger received, it would be wise to note how few members of either society actually voted.

It is rumoured that no more than 130,000 of the 500,000 Chelsea members voted. Just over one-fifth of the YBS saving members actually voted, and it was 86.68 per cent of that fifth that approved it.

Just over 14,500 borrowing members voted and it was 85.44 per cent of them that approved it.

Can it be true that so many of the one million saving members of the YBS could not care less?

Membership of a mutual financial services organisation confers responsibilities on members alongside the considerable advantages of mutuality.

Active participation would be far more useful to consumers than the financial services compensation scheme, which I recommend should be abolished. That should focus minds.

Roland Baker, Repton Close, Luton