PONDERING on Preston's city bid and looking at the criteria that appear to be considered, that is, whether a town has a cathedral, a university, a prison and so, I ask myself what advantage is there in a town having a prison?

Has Preston been missing out over many decades, by not taking advantage of having a prison?

Locked away in the bastille at the bottom of Ribbleton Lane (pictured), are several hundred fit and able men. Why can't the inmates of Preston prison be deployed to keep the town clean?

If prisoners at Lancaster can work on prison farms, prisoners at Kirkham on its horticultural estate, why can't Preston prisoners be employed to smarten up Preston?

They could start by cleaning and re-pointing the prison's perimeter walls, they could provide a daily litter picking service through the town. There is an endless list of jobs that always seem to be beyond the budgets of local government, jobs that never get done or never get done to the frequency or standard the public expect.

With record numbers of people locked up in prisons, surely the time has come for Preston and other towns and cities, to make having a prison something to the area's advantage.

The daily sight of chain gangs on the streets might prove to be an effective deterrent to would-be criminals.

Ray Johnson, Ribbleton, Preston.