WE are always being asked by the Government and the council to leave our cars at home and use public transport.

One night recently my wife and I were going to the Palace Theatre in Manchester and we decided, as we were going to have a meal and a drink, to use public transport.

We took the Metro and there were no problems until we got back to Bury at 11.15pm and joined the queue in Kay Gardens for a black cab. Everything was fine until the taxis started to pull up at the wrong end of the long queue. Drunken teenagers, who had joined the back of the queue, jumped into the cabs, swearing at anybody who complained.

Two police constables were witnessing this debacle but refused to intervene. Eventually we got our taxi home.

I find it amazing that Bury Council has not had the sense to put up a "Queue Here" sign so that everybody, including the taxi drivers, knows where the front of the queue is! Why should we expose ourselves to verbal and possible physical abuse. In future we will do the sensible thing and go to Manchester by car.

GEORGE YOUNG,

Preesall Close,

Bury.

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