As someone born and brought up in the town, it makes me cringe when I see #AmazingAccrington plastered all over posters for the latest hairbrained event on the space in front of the market hall which looks like something from a Sixties’ communist country.

Oh, Accrington today is amazing all right, but not in the way the trendy marketing types who probably dreamed up the hashtag would want us to believe.

No Accrington is amazing for being the only town in the country without any proper shops. Unless you have a predilection for charity shops or vapes what actually does the town have to offer? Wilko and Boots are the latest big names to depart. What’s left?

Accrington is amazing for having what is surely one of the most dysfunctional councils in the country (OK pedants I know it’s Hyndburn Council, but still ...) Getting this lot to agree on anything appears to be virtually impossible with the main parties beset by internal strife.

The sad thing is that when I was growing up - in the Seventies - Accrington genuinely was amazing. The town was bustling. There were local traders and shops which you could rely on. The market was brilliant.

Accuse me of rose tinted glasses as much as you like but I fail to see what’s genuinely amazing now. It’s so sad.

DAVID RUSH