I READ with interest the thoughts of Mr Jackson (LET February 7) on the congestion on the roads of the Ewood area, and I fully endorse your decision to award him the accolade of your £10 Letter of the Week.

Then on February 12 I read the thoughts of Mrs Miller who seems to have taken the constructive thoughts of Mr Jackson as, at best, an attack upon the good people of Fernhurst Farm and, at worst, some kind of personal insult.

Having taken time to re-read both letters I would like to make the following observations:

I am delighted to hear that Mrs Miller pays her road tax. I'm sure Mr Jackson pays his too. I'm not clear as to why Mrs Miller needed to mention this though.

Mr Jackson was not advocating the removal of the Fernhurst traffic lights as Mrs Miller has taken it upon herself to assume. Nowhere in his letter did he ask or suggest that the offending traffic lights be removed.

He was correctly pointing out that the 'bias' of the lights was unfairly weighted in favour of the traffic leaving the 'prestigious development' (as she refers to it) of Fernhurst Farm which, in turn, causes Blackburn-bound traffic to back up along Branch Road and Cravens Brow.

He pointed out that a mini roundabout might be a solution, but also suggested alterations to the timing of the traffic light sequence.

He also clearly stated that one or two vehicles leave the estate with each change of the lights -- not that there are one or two vehicles on the estate in total.

Regarding the emotive issue of potentially dispensing with the services of the lollipop lady that Mrs Miller has adopted as part of her armoury, it would seem somewhat unfair of her to presuppose Mr Jackson's thoughts on this matter, given that it did not form any part of his published letter.

Mrs Miller also suggests that Mr Jackson finds an alternative route from Darwen to Blackburn.

I would contest that it should not be unreasonable for him to expect to be able to utilise the primary thoroughfare between the two towns in order to undertake his journey.

May I suggest a checkpoint at the Golden Cup that ensures that all Blackburn-bound Darwener's are re-routed via Bog Height Road or Sandy Lane?

From Mrs Miller's advice to Mr Jackson to keep his car and himself in Darwen, I can only hope that the prestigious development in which she resides is not placed into the Rossendale and Darwen political constituency as has been proposed.

Such a move would obviously give her some real cause for concern.

MADELINE HOPKINS (Mrs), Meadow Vale, Oakdale, Blackburn.