LEIGH Magistrates' Court is surely part of the law and order system, so, with its closure, may I ask what was its contribution to cutting crime figures in Leigh?

Older people are increasingly afraid even in their own homes, with good reason. We are also loth to venture on to the streets at night, and certainly not at weekends.

Even the few local police are afraid to go out without body armour, as they speed in cars and vans around the streets in their successful efforts to avoid confrontation with the public of Leigh.

Close the court - at least it will remove from Leigh, for a few hours, the accused who are guilty. If any guilty there are, I hasten to add.

The claim that it only costs £145 per day to run - £725 per five day week, means someone is a financial genius to spend so little on employees, as well as the costs of heating, lighting and repair of the building.

May I suggest this wizard uses this money to employ people to actually operate the anti-crime cameras, and with his business acumen, install many more.

Also, if the threat is real, he may have enough left over to buy us all body armour, so we can be as protected as the police.

DESMOND FLEMING

Leigh

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