I FELT compelled to write about the new lap dancing club.

If, as I would hope is the case, the people of St Helens don't want it then it will soon close due to lack of business. The best way to vote in this country is with your feet or your purse.

If, however, it is successful then that will mean that people are using it, probably men and they are all someone's son, husband or father. If this is the form of entertainment that they choose then we only have ourselves, as a society, to blame.

Let's not forget that the girls that choose to entertain in this way are someone's daughter. Someone must want this form of entertainment otherwise it would not exist. I do not want to live in a censored society where a Government decides what forms of entertainment I can participate in.

But, it will be a sad day if the club is a success, it will lower the tone of the area even more. All this when we have just heard that we are to get a new cinema and retail complex which I am sure will be a success because people want it.

If you do not want the club then don't go, and tell the men in your family that you don't want them to go. And, ladies, if we disagree should we be having male strippers at the Theatre Royal?

And as for the person who thinks today's children are being instructed in Christian propaganda, would he prefer Islamic or Hindu propaganda. We are, after all, a Christian nation and parents choose to send their children to Roman Catholic schools and when those children reach the age of 14 they are asked to make the decision for themselves as to whether they wish to remain in the faith. They are not forced into it.

Children are educated in their faith, if they choose not to be, then they don't go to a religious school. As for philosophy that is a separate subject, and schools would do well to include it, as it often offers insights into our belief systems.

The country is becoming un-Christian enough as it is without actively trying to destroy it. If the person wants to follow a different religion, maybe they should go to the country that practices it, where they would find that particular religion taught above all others.

A British citizen (name and address supplied).

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