NOTWITHSTANDING the funds raised for charity at this year's event, do the majority of people in Rawtenstall approve of their town being commandeered annually for what's described as Europe's biggest town-centre motor-cycling show -- as happened once again last weekend?

I wonder.

An attraction it indisputably is -- when up to 40,000 people and 6,000 bikes converged on the town for the latest Rossendale Valley Motorbike Show.

But apart from biking enthusiasts and traders riding on the pillion of the event with their cash registers merrily pinging, is the rest of the community happy to have the town and the roads leading to it taken over for hours on end for the amusement of a minority group which -- as with the Hell's Angels element and the Sunday racers on the roads to and from Kirkby Lonsdale -- is not always noted for its regard for the rest of the society?

The last time I inadvertently came across this biker-fest, I found my way to the Rawtenstall DIY store I wanted to visit barred by a leather-clad woman claiming to be a 'steward' with the authority to ban traffic from the road I wanted to use.

She was soon disabused of her imagined powers by Yours Truly and I wouldn't be surprised if many others in Rossendale would similarly question the right or the desirability of the biking fraternity to take over the place -- even if it is only on one day a year.