WHY bother with all the expense of a statue of Barbara Castle when she already has a huge and very fitting tribute to her policies in the shape of Barbara Castle Way?

With the introduction of the 70mph speed limit on motorways she became the first politician to officially declare war on the motorist.

Her war continues today with an ever increasing erosion of our freedoms by such insidious and cynical means as GATSOs and mobile Inland Revenue units -- sorry I mean mobile 'safety' cameras.

I am a sales rep driving about 50,000 miles per annum in a territory that reaches from the Scottish border to Warwickshire, and I can honestly say that Barbara Castle Way is one of the most motorist unfriendly roads that I know.

Traffic lights are phased deliberately to prevent a smooth and uninterrupted journey and the Inland Revenue have one of their cash collectors awaiting any driver who commits the unspeakable offence of exceeding the ludicrously low speed limit.

This road is indeed a fitting memorial to Red Barbara -- and when the car haters of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council have shuffled off their mortal coils and gone to the great big cycle lane in the sky, they too will have a ready made memorial.

PAUL ATHERTON, Kilgrimol Gardens, St Annes.