JOHN Farrer's assertion (Letters, February 1) is that the Tories are delivering better value for money than Labour on street cleaning in Hyndburn. That is because the Tories spent £155,000 last year on street cleaning as against the £45,000 spent by the Labour administration in their last year in office.

But the Best Value Performance Plan, published annually by Tory-run Hyndburn Council, states on page 79 that in 1999, the last year Labour were in power locally, 90 per cent of Hyndburn streets were of a high or acceptable standard of cleanliness. Last year's figures showed a dramatic slump to only 81 per cent of streets being clean.

There are more than 2,000 designated streets and roads in Hyndburn, so let's put this all in context. The Tories are currently spending three and a half times as much money to clean 200 fewer streets than Labour. And the dimwits are bragging about it!

COUNCILLOR TIM O'KANE, Charles Street, Clayton-le-Moors.