I HAD the pleasure of visiting my home town of Blackburn one weekend on a short trip to the UK.

As usual, the people of the North West are as warm and friendly as anywhere in the world, which is something that anyone who moves away must surely miss.

However, what I could never miss, is the shabby rundown state of the town.

Simple things like more street cleansing and regular emptying of litter bins could make a huge difference.

As an example, at 4.30 on Friday afternoon I walked along Darwen Street by the row of takeaways. The street bins were so full that there were empty pizza and kebab boxes just placed in the street next to the bins.

In the Infirmary area on Saturday, outside a corner shop, there was a line of ice-cream wrappers, crisp packets and drinks cans starting at the shop doorway and strewn two blocks down the pavement. These had obviously come from the only shop within half-a-mile.

Three suggestions to help things:

1. Every shop which sells fast food, sweets etc., in wrappings, should be forced by law to provide a waste bin directly outside the shop and this bin must be emptied on a daily basis.

2. If you don't need the packaging or the paper bag in which your purchase comes, tell the vendor, or leave it inside the store for them to dispose of. The decent people of Blackburn deserve a cleaner town.

3. Do not be afraid to tackle the problem by reporting rubbish piles to environmental health people. If the same area or shop is reported often enough, they will be forced to act.

Small efforts by everyone will make a big difference.

TONY PARKER, Achterdiek, Bremen, Germany.