IN response to the story (LET, October 18) titled 'Crackdown after £1,000,000 pavement payout,' I don't know if I am the weakest link or a sandwich short of a good picnic but I find it very hard to come to terms with this story, one of the reasons being that last year the council were happy to write off at a stroke the very same amount of money in non payment of council tax and rent arrears.

The council stated at the time they did not have the money or resources to enable the council to bring these offenders to court and prosecute them for non payment, but here we are 12 months later with a similar problem and the council can find at a stroke enough money to employ three more road inspectors, two more at the town hall to deal with claims, plus hiring private investigators.

Does this or does it not seem to everyone else that yet again Blackburn with Darwen Council are locking the gate when the horse is halfway down the road, or is the real reason due to the fact that Blackburn with Darwen Council is now a unitary authority and liable for third party highways claims.

Yes, the council does have the right to thoroughly investigate every claim before any kind of compensation is made but at the same time it must be understood that the majority of claims using the council's own figures are genuine and people that have suffered pain and discomfort are entitled to compensation.

If at any stage the council leader and perhaps Ashley Whalley would like to come down and have a look at the state of the pavements round the town centre they may think themselves lucky that compensations are so low. I think that next year it may be a lot higher due to what pedestrians are being asked to put up with in and around the Church Street areas. There are piles of rubble on the paths and holes dug up every few yards with cones put on the top of the gravel. And what do we get from Councillor Whalley? His statement that it will be worth it when it is finished.

I was told that there was only one thing visible from space and that was the Great Wall of China, but now there are two, the other being the road works in Blackburn town centre.

ROY DAVIES, Olive Lane, Darwen.