I WRITE regarding the letter which appeared in letters page on November 18 entitled "Shameful Turnout" regarding the small number of people at the Corporation Park War Memorial at 11am on November 11 to mark Remembrance Day.

It may well be correct that only 10 people were paying their respects to those who fell in the Two World Wars and other conflicts at the War Memorial. However, as in previous years the Mayor, Councillors and Chief Officers, the Royal British Legion, representatives from the Cathedral and other faiths, and around 100 people gathered at the steps of the Town Hall in Blackburn where the bugler sounded the last post and the two-minute silence was observed.

Council officers were also given the option to use the two minutes as time to remember in their own way those who died. A maroon was fired from the Town Hall roof to start and finish the two minutes which enable other people in the town centre to join in the Act of Remembrance.

The silence was also observed in the shopping centre and market an at all other public buildings in the borough.

The Act of Remembrance was also marked in a similar way in Darwen where the Deputy Mayor was joined by the Darwen Branch of the Royal British Legion on the Town Hall steps.

The formal Acts of Remembrance took place on Saturday and Sunday, November 13 and 14 with numerous services throughout the borough, including seven that the council takes an active part in organising.

The attendance at events this year was greater than previous years, a trend that has continued year on year.

PHIL WATSON, Chief Executive, Blackburn with Darwen Council.