WHAT has happened to the Blackburn I was born and raised in -- the town of clean streets, quality shops and the finest market in Lancashire?

They have been lost through mismanagement by successive councils of different political persuasions, but those in control now really take the biscuit.

First of all, we have the introduction of 'Tin Trees,' a 'Tin Bee Hive' (right) and a sculpture of a bare posterior. Then, the monumental blunder -- the closure of Church Street, the main traffic route through the town, thus creating a potential death trap in Railway Road.

The council then pedestrianise the area and spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on marble slabs, granite blocks and balls. Then, they employ foreign workers to lay them.

Now, I always thought pedestrianisation meant 'traffic-free,' but I must be wrong because the Council has turned it into the costliest car park in Europe.

Money being plentiful in Blackburn, we send some council members on a 'jolly' to measure Christmas trees to make sure they fit the holes we have. Now the latest fiasco is to send a party of our guardians to lap dancing clubs to make sure the entertainment is safe for the peasants of Blackburn to enjoy.

Perhaps I shouldn't blame the council because we are now governed by a Cabinet who enjoy fancy titles -- Executive member for this and Executive member for that. These titles seem to have given them attitudes that make them ignore the wishes of people who elected them. May I remind them there is always another election?

H HODGKINSON (Mr), Nares Road, Blackburn.