ON Friday, February 25, I was 'spending a penny' and it nearly cost me £100 in cash!

I was using the Blackburn town centre public toilets next to Ajax, with a carrier bag containing my purse and gift vouchers, and placed it beside my feet.

Suddenly, in a flash, without me seeing any hands, my bag shot underneath the toilet door.

In shock and still with my pants down, as I didn't have any time to pull them up, I opened the door and, luckily, was able to make a grab for it.

But to my horror this was done by a seven or eight year old boy (in the ladies' toilets) while a queue of women were waiting to use them. And yet not one person had stopped or questioned the boy!

The matter was reported to the police.

I was in shock for some time, but just think, ladies, what if it had happened to an old lady who wouldn't be so fast. Would you be proud of yourselves?

All I can say is: "Beware, ladies, keep hold of your bags, even if you are on the toilet."

L BARON (Mrs), Queens Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.