SO Blackburn could be in line for a handout of £2.5 million from Europe (LET, November 28). Good show!

But I believe it would be a good idea to keep the money (if we get it) well away from the people who, over the past 35 years have done so much damage to a once-proud town.

Perhaps a committee or cartel of local, long-standing business people, who have a vested interest in the future of Blackburn would be a better idea.

So far, since the original 'Big Hole' of 1964, or thereabouts, the town has had its heart removed and replaced with plastic and concrete.

Good flag pavements have been carted away replaced with fancy tiles that have cracked as soon as they have been laid.

Ainsworth Street is a disgrace; and this is not the first 'facelift' the street has suffered at their hands.

King William Street is supposed to be pedestrianised, but seldom a day passes without vehicles being parked on the pavement. And inevitably, the flags or tiles crack, the ground subsides, and the job has to be done and paid for again at the expense of the taxpayer.f=Zurich Bd BTF BURNS, Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn.

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