WHY does MP Peter Pike have an obsession with the proposed new Job Centre Plus, despite it not being a necessary adjunct and despite the strong local opposition to its location?

This apparent obsession even runs to the badgering of Works and Pensions Secretary Johnson, in order to get him to confirm that the project is going ahead on schedule.

Can it be that it will be a visual monument to the MP's achievements for the country and his constituents?

Perhaps a more apt title would be Pike's Folly!

However, one really must feel sorry for him, especially as he is giving up his lucrative existence as an MP and in future will have to "make do" with a comparatively niggardly pension of about £30,000 pa, underwritten by the tax payer.

In the LET article of October 25, wherein Mr Pike arrogantly asserts that "I deserve every penny," he lists a very airy-fairy diary of his workload for an average week. None of these events requires a great deal of physical or mental effort, though he fails to state how long each appearance lasted and that he also gets paid for his surgeries, too, I understand.

Don't let us forget that on top of his huge expenses claimed, Mr Pike also has a salary of almost £60,000 pa and a number of his benefits will continue after he ceases to be an MP.

R BRACEWELL (Mr), Ormerod Street, Worsthorne, Burnley.