IF ANYTHING epitomises the lack of intelligence and common sense exuding from Hyndburn Council, it's the recent comments by Councillors Goldsmith, Dickinson and Thom in your article "Conflict of views on road humps' (LET. December 2).

This was about the number of petitions pressing the Council to do something about drivers travelling too fast in residential areas and yet they (the Council) are the subject of "a barrage of attacks from certain people in the letters column."

It's simply not dawned on these people why all these letters are appearing in the newspaper. There is surely only one reason.

Hundreds of petitioners, like thousands of other residents, want leadership from the council on improving road safety once and for all.

However, all that happens is just continual whingeing by certain councillors about people who perhaps have a more informed view than they and, certainly in my case, are only willing to advise. Hyndburn Council's attitude is one of "not listening - we'll do as we please" - which only demonstrates that neither they, nor their officers, are up to the job. The real safety issue demands far deeper thought than just placing an obstruction into the roadway.

Driving standards in this country are generally dreadful. But it is not surprising when, having taken a 20-minute driving test, all one demonstrates is that you can steer in a straight line, put the brake on when necessary, do a hill start, reverse around a corner and turn around in the road.

There's your driving licence which should last you for the rest of your life. Go down the motorway at 70 mph if you wish. The world's your oyster!

Further driver education, together with a firm law and order policy is the only way forward. And the sooner Hyndburn Council realises this, then we might start getting somewhere.

Meantime, we live in a fairground and are a laughing stock for the rest of the country. There's no place in the British Isles like Hyndburn. Seriously - name one.

In order to make our roads safer, they can only come up with the brilliant idea of building humps and painting white lines all over the roads - which most drivers ignore anyway!

All this at an annual cost of approximately £205,000 of hard-earned taxpayers' money.

Is it not time we had local government similar to that in the USA where the mayor is elected but who, in turn, then selects his/her own team and is therefore entirely responsible for all decisions?

Maybe then we will get some accountability from our councils, coupled with more professionalism and, hopefully, a little more intelligence.

ADRIAN SHURMER (retired police driving instructor), Lyndon Avenue, Great Harwood.

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