TAXI driver Paul Atherton has a perfect way of beating the blues while waiting between fares or shunting in and around the borough.

It's then that he forms short poems and songs in his mind, drawing inspiration from what might to others seem an unpromising industrial landscape all around.

And now, Paul, from Church Road, Rainford, has forwarded a sample of his poetic prowess.

Because of its local touchpoints, I'm happy to meet Paul's polite request to put it in print, so here it is:

Eight steaming towers, o'er Widnes way,

It's Fiddler's Ferry, so they say,

Tall and majestic, they stand their ground,

Clearly seen for miles around.

Grey and gaunt, but in bright sunlight

impressing us all... a magnificent sight!

Viewed from Billinge, Sutton and Parr,

St Helens and Haydock and fields afar,

From the Viaduct at Thelwall, from the hills of Crank

No other sight is there to rank.

'Tis but a power station, some may say,

But it's a sight to see on a sunny day,

From the cavernous mouths, steam is roaring,

Whilst deep inside are turbines roaring.

Fiddler's Ferry... a long, long story,

It's Fiddler's Ferry in all its glory.