IT'S no wonder that many visitors to Blackburn think the town is horrible - just a couple of examples:

Firstly, what is the point of getting beautiful sculpted metal gates made at great expense and having them erected in Northgate, Blackburn, a rusty chain is draped between them with tatty red and white plastic streamers hanging from it? It looks awful.

Secondly, I'm surprised the council has not been inundated with claims from motorists who park on Barton Street car park for repairs to damaged suspensions and sumps. The holes are positively cavernous. It costs 50p for just an hour's parking, so there must be something in the kitty to repair the surface.

And for goodness' sake, what on earth is happening on the Ramsgreave Drive section of the ring road? It has been coned off to a single lane each way for months now, yet there never seems to be anyone working there.

I work and shop in Blackburn, but am only glad that I don't pay rates there, which would give me some measure of responsibility for how dreadful it is.

JEAN ROBINSON (Mrs), Knowsley Road West, Clayton-le-Dale, Blackburn.

Footnote: A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said that in regard to the metal gates; the chain is a temporary measure which will be removed when the bottom hinge of the gate is repaired. Some potholes have appeared on Barton Street car park which the council is arranging to fill in. The reason workers were not always visible was that they were tunnelling underneath Ramsgreave Drive to replace a collapsed sewer. Because the road had settled above the collapse lanes were coned off to deflect traffic away from the worst areas and to slow them down to minimise the risk of further settlement.

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