I WRITE in defence of Stephen Margerison and against your disgraceful story (LET, August 15) of his and his daughter's private life.

I have known Stephen all his working life - from the time he worked in a warehouse to the time he had his own hardware shop in Accrington, ending up with a chain of care homes.

All this time, he worked all the hours possible to make himself successful. He is right to make his children stand on their own two feet.

Angela has a house and car provided by him and I am sure he will not see her in real trouble.

And why should Angela not claim benefits? She is entitled to them because I am sure her father has paid into the system thousands of pounds over the years in tax and insurance, unlike some.

One reads all the time about how sons and daughters live lavish lifestyles on the money made by the parents. This girl is an independent mother and is doing no wrong, so why print all this gossip?

R O'KEEFE (Mr), East Park Road, Blackburn.

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