IF Alexander Gore (Letters, April 5) took the trouble to read Adrian Shurmer's letter he would see that he did not suggest the driver of the overloaded council lorry (LET, March 2) should be fined 10 per cent of his salary, rather that drivers of all vehicles have a responsibility to drive lawfully and with consideration for other road users and be prepared to take the consequences if they don't.

In fact, Mr Shurmer had some sympathy for the driver because of the council's lack of training for its employees in the important area of health and safety at work.

I wonder how sympathetic Mr Gore would have been had his child been safely playing in the road between his local humps and the council wagon, due to being 50 per cent overloaded, was unable to stop, causing his child to become another statistic.

I am sure he would be comforted by council leader George Slynn's comment that an overloaded vehicle poses no danger to the public and therefore, by inference, no real crime had been committed.

Turning to Councillor Slynn's recent pre-election pamphlet, the three main planks of the campaign would seem to be education, being tough on crime and making streets safer. The above sorry saga would suggest his administration has failed on all three counts.

Regarding Mr Gore's suggestion that there should be no criticism of the present administration, does he think that without letters to the local press about Great Harwood's neglected town centre over the past three years, the Towngate would, last week, have got its splendid hanging baskets and the cycle rack its gold leaf embellishments?

Or is it that George and his acolyte are up for election in May - coincidentally, just as the flowers bloom?

J P DUCKWORTH (Election agent for Adrian Shurmer), Bostons, Great Harwood.

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