AT 81, I wake up in the morning, and, first of all, am thankful to be alive. Then, I find out what day it is and how the weather is.

Depending on the day and the weather, I then know that it is crosswords or the garden for me.

Among us, however, are people who, from the moment they open their eyes in the morning, plan their activities.

Will it be snatching old ladies' handbags, shoplifting, stealing from cars, conning the elderly or just wandering around looking for opportunities to rob?

It is their way of life!

One such opportunist cleared the locked boot of my wife's car of its valuable contents last week, on Morrisons car park in Blackburn.

I began to think that the country's bill, on account of thieving must be a tidy sum, and how the amount would compare with the cost of funding the trebling of the police force.

I wonder how many readers have seen a policeman or woman on foot patrol in their street today.

I have not seen one on our road in the eight years we've lived here and we've had five break-ins at no mean cost to ourselves.

C BAKEWELL, St James Road, Blackburn.

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