AT the recent Blackburn against Wolves game, which was played in appalling weather, I couldn't help noticing how poor facilities are at Ewood Park are for disabled fans.

I now sit it the Walker Steel stand and was astonished to see that a number of disabled wheelchair users had no option but to sit in the pouring rain to watch the game.

The first few seats of the Walker Steel Stand are not covered anyway , so these fans, who are unable to move up the steps to seats that are covered, have no option but to sit in the rain.

Surely this lack of facilities for disabled fans should be a source of shame for a club of Rovers stature, and for that matter any football club.

I would be very interested to know if Blackburn charge these fans full price for the privilege of getting soaked.

If the club wanted to build a fitting tribute to Jack Walker, perhaps they should consider improving facilities for these fans.

Neil Anderson, Ewood House, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset

FOOTNOTE:

When the new stands were built one main concern was to provide maximum facilities for our disabled supporters but there were safety concerns.

For evacuation purposes, disabled supporters need to be at ground level.

We had 280 places for disabled supporters and their helpers and they were offered a choice of where they wanted to sit around the ground. A lot of the people who were already seated in the Walker Steel stand wanted to remain there.

Obviously, these seats are more exposed and we have tried to exercise some influence on that but they have all said they want to stay there. The situation at Ewood is the same at most grounds.

People as far back as 20 rows probably get wet when the weather is bad but that's not to say we are happy about that.

Having said that, since reading this letter I have spoken with the chairman of the Rovers Disabled Supporters Association and he has said the club are right to let the fans exercise their right to sit where they want. So all in all, we want to leave it up to the supporters to decide where they want to sit. Ewood Park is regarded as one of the best grounds in the country for disabled supporters and we are very proud of that.

Mel Highmore, Stadium Manager at Ewood Park