I HAVE always been proud of being a Blackburnian, but now I find it easier and safer to deny any connection with the town.

I quite often find myself being asked to give directions to out-of-town drivers and thanks to the brilliant planning of our councillors having to explain that it is necessary to make a half mile journey to get to a shop that is only 100 yards away.

Having been looked at like a country bumpkin so many times, I find it easier to say that I am a stranger here myself.

Maybe your readers would like to amuse themselves by working out the shortest route for a motorist to get from Mincing Lane to King Street or the railway station. Or better still from the 'wrong' side of Barbara Castle Way to Tontine Street.

If you really want fun, try directing a motorist with a car full of kids to the nearest public toilet after 6pm.

L LAWES, Bold Street, Blackburn.

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