COUNCILLOR Dave Smith (Letters, December 9) mentions that Mill Hill in Blackburn received millions of pounds in the Eighties -- and rightly so.

But that in no way compares with the tens of millions of pounds spent on Brookhouse 1, Brookhouse 2 and Bastwell, Shadsworth, Whitebirk, Higher Croft, Audley and Shadsworth, yet again where all the properties were council-owned.

Coun Smith cites Single Regeneration Budget 1 and SRB5, yet conveniently forgets to mention SRBs 2, 3 and 4, where most of the money for housing has been spent in Bank Top as the council has renamed the area of Johnston Street and Devonport Road, which had already benefited from large sums spent on the area in the Eighties.

Not all ethnic communities have been favoured with this largesse by the council -- areas like Little Harwood, Queen's Park, the Infirmary and Granville Road are all but ignored.

Instead of quoting areas, what Coun Smith should do on behalf of the council is identify the amounts of money spent in each area over a given period and let the people themselves judge whether there has been equitable distribution of public funds.

No amount of belly-aching by the Labour-controlled council can disguise the fact that money is and has been unequally shared out, with certain areas benefiting excessively at the expense of others.

Maybe Councillor Smith will explain why Brookhouse 1, Brookhouse 2, Bastwell and Bank Top get special dispensation when applying for individual grant aid which the rest of the town is barred from.

WALT MEADOWS, Whalley Old Road, Blackburn.