REGARDING your story about Mr Tom Ashton slipping and breaking his arm in the subway in Blackburn (LET, January 4), how long would it have taken one man and a couple of barrow loads of salt and grit to do the whole of the subway? A couple of hours at the most?

Blackburn Council always has excuses when we have adverse weather and some of them are frankly pathetic.

I'm sure that most side roads could have grit bins that could help to keep them clear.

One thing I have noticed is that most council estates are gritted, regardless of anywhere else, the excuse being that they are bus routes. I lived in Barons Way in Lower Darwen for eight years and only once in that time did I see a grit lorry.

Let's hope they can do better next time we have snow and ice. It's not as if they don't know we have bad weather in winter.

A REID, Elgar Close, Blackburn.