A FEW years ago cobbled streets were out of fashion.

Nobody wanted to live in one and in East Lancashire millions of cobbles were either dug up or covered in acres of bland tar and chippings.

Now they are back in vogue.

And the residents of Finsbury Place in Ewood, Blackburn, are fighting the council in an attempt to keep their cobbles and flagged pavements.

They say cobbled streets are part of Lancashire's heritage and that the council gave them only 48 hours notice that work was to commence.

Cobbles have no place in busy modern thoroughfares. They were designed for horses and carts, not cars and lorries.

But is there any need to bury them in quiet streets like Finsbury Place?

The council argue that safety is their main concern. But the residents are more than happy with their 90-year-old cobbles and flagged pavements.

East Lancashire towns saw much of their heritage swept away in the 1960s mad rush to build cube-like town centres and replace terraced homes with flats in the sky.

Leave Finsbury Place alone. Let them retain their little bit of heritage. There is precious little of it left around here.

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