PEDESTRIAN-only shopping centres are fine for the fit and able-bodied, but, being disabled, I find them extremely hard work.

I visited Blackburn town centre on August 13 and had to park off Darwen Street and Church Street, outside Barclays Bank.

I went to WH Smith's bookshop and Superdrug and, by the time I got back to my car, I was almost in tears with pain in my back and legs.

Does no one give a thought to people like myself, of whom there must be hundreds, when these shopping centres are being designed?

I can assure Blackburn Council that I will not be visiting the shopping precinct again.

I would also point out that I am on the waiting list for a wheel chair but have received a letter informing me that the wait is between 28 and 30 weeks.

OLIVE ADCROFT (Mrs), Snaefell Road, Blackburn.

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