I CAN understand why you awarded the Letter of the Week prize to Mr J Taylor for his comments (Letters, November 23) regarding pubs on New Year's Eve. It was a well set-out letter, expressing widely-held views of the licensed trade's exploitation of the millennium.

However, this view is totally misleading. I act for many landlords of local community pubs in and around Blackburn and the majority are taking a very realistic attitude to this event.

They know that this is literally a once-in-a-thousand-year-day, but that they will still need their customers next day, next week and for many months and years to come.

For this reason many are opening virtually as normal with restrictions only to minimise the risk of trouble as the night wears on and without any increase on normal prices.

Please, Mr Taylor, ask around and you will find that you can celebrate this special occasion without being ripped off.

WILF PARKINSON, Wood and Partners, High Street, Rishton.

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