UNBELIEVABLE, absolutely unbelievable! The town planners of Blackburn strike again!

I, of course, refer to Mr Ian Finch, the man who foolishly decided to invest his hard-earned savings and redundancy money in a new business venture called Puccino's in our fair town, providing us with somewhere that is a little different, where the coffee, food and service is second to none and fits in perfectly well in its surroundings. And very popular it is proving too.

So, what's the problem? Apparently, Mr Finch has the wrong type of planning permission (A1 instead of A3), not a problem anywhere else in the country, but then we are talking about Blackburn.

The powers-that-be want King William Street to remain retail -- well, what's left of it -- and say there isn't room to have a good quality coffee bar in among the shops.

It would also appear that the planning committee are drawing parallels between Darwen Street and mushrooming of pizza, kebab and curry takeaways.

Well, now, I wonder who gave planning permission for those establishments? Would I be right in thinking it's the very same people who are trying to close down Puccino's? And as for comparing the two -- well, they've got to be kidding!

It would appear to me that our so-called elected representatives on the planning committee don't actually want people to invest in the town centre and give people something they want and in a convenient place.

Maybe they should go on a fact-finding tour of the city of Preston and have a look around the shopping centre. They would notice that among the shops nestle coffee bars and the shoppers and the people who use the city centre use them and enjoy them.

So, come on planning committee, see some sense and grant Mr Finch his A3 planning permission and give us something that we want and something that the town centre needs.

L MILLIDGE (Miss), Dukes Brow, Blackburn.