I DO not think I was renamed Rip Van Winkle but I may as well have been.

As an ardent reader of the letters page I feel I am at least entitled to pass a criticism of our so-called tourist industry or what is left of it!

They write in criticising the council or anyone else they think is not supporting their cause and they may well be correct.

However, I can never recollect a single letter thanking the ratepayers of Blackpool for their contribution.

It was with interest I read recently some of the statistics behind the Illuminations.

Perhaps it would be as well repeating them for our poor, overworked and underpaid tourism operators.

We, the people of Blackpool, contribute £14.27 for every man, woman and child in the town or put another way, £48.84 for every household.

I feel strongly that it is time they temporarily put aside their greed, selfishness and hard-luck stories and expressed their gratitude to us.

B Crosby, Lytham Road, Blackpool.