ON my way to the Lions' Gala at Witton Park, Blackburn, I was confronted by people collecting signatures for a petition to save the footpaths in the Buncer Lane area.

I was surprised, since I always thought that no legal footpath could be closed without the permission of a magistrates court.

I understood that if a footpath was obstructed or closed, then any interested person could obtain an injunction from the court requiring the removal of the obstruction or the opening of the path.

The process, I am told, is comparatively easy and the court would not require a petition.

Of course, the process does require proof that the path does, in fact, exist.

There is also, so I understand, an officer employed by Blackburn Borough Council charged with the duty of ensuring that legal public footpaths are kept open to the public.

I can also remember being told by a person who used to walk his dog in this area that access was obtained by moving a loose railing to one side, which does not sound like legal access.

Of course, I am going back some 20 years.

May I suggest a trip to either the town hall or a solicitor would serve these people better than an unnecessary petition.

G SMITH, Bold Street, Blackburn.

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