COMMON sense tells us that the closure of Church Street in Blackburn, without the provision of a proper road service, heralds not the start of regeneration, but the rapid decline of trade in the town centre.

The new routes proposed so far are a complete shambles and it could be years before the completion of Barbara Castle Way.

Along with the high cost of parking, this will ensure that the cars bringing the shoppers will stay away and turn the town centre into a ghost town, thanks to the anti-car antics of the ruling Labour group.

Both Councillor Alan Cottam and I have been on the Town Centre Regeneration Task Group and from day one it was quite obvious that, no matter what the people and traders want, the 'fiddling while Rome burns' mentality was going to prevail.

This decision to close Church Street is the biggest and most costly blunder to affect the citizens and traders of our town.

COUN EDDIE HARRISON

(Conservative, Meadowhead Ward, Blackburn with Darwen Council), Brookway, Blackburn.