REGARDING the Co-operative Bank's survey about changing the name of the bank holidays and the disagreement over what to call them instead, why all the fuss?

The banks serve their customers 365 days per year, we are told, but only one public holiday has 'bank' in its title.

So why not just call it the Spring Holiday, or, if that doesn't seem right, how about Oak Tree Day or Tulip Time? Anything with the theme of spring's re-growth would do.

Perhaps naming it after the first man who had the idea of replacing Whitsun with an immovable public holiday would be appropriate. Do we know his name?

It set me wondering if we really need these odd days off. Most people, if they are not on overtime, have enough leisure hours.

But I am no killjoy - far be it for me to deny anybody the pleasure of a day out, an afternoon of DIY or a long rest, but some people don't seem to know what to do in their spare time. So they drift into alcohol and/or drugs, which in turn leads to vandalism, shoplifting, etc.

MARGARET JACKSON, Chester Avenue, Clitheroe.

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