IF, as we are assured, the town hall planners in Blackburn are eager to make life better for pedestrians in the town centre, isn't it high time that they ceased marooning them on islands?

Why is it that the timing and sequence of the 'green man' light at so many of the pelican crossings and traffic lights in main shopping thoroughfares, such as Penny Street and Church Street, are such that people are unable to cross the road in one go -- and end up stranded for inordinately long periods on central islands, many of which are constructed like sheep-pens.

In the foul weather that we have at this time of year, people are stuck there in the open for quite long enough to get soaking wet, not to mention having their lungs polluted with vehicle exhaust fumes in the process.

The old subways in the town centre might have been dank and scabrous, but at least they easily and safely separated people from the traffic.

And why should we wait for more pedestrianisation of the town centre to ease the problem ?-- it could take years to happen and might only transfer worse dangers to people trying to cross the hotchpotch orbital route around the centre when more traffic is forced on to its roads.

I am no technician, but I think it would take an electrician just a few minutes to adjust the timing of the lights at these crossings so that pedestrians are not inconvenienced by interrupted journeys. And it needs to be done now.

JOHN LEAVER, Manorfields, Whalley.