THE county should be proud of the lads of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment who have just returned from a tough tour of duty in Bosnia.

They are to exercise the Freedom of the Borough of Burnley by marching through the town with bayonets fixed and colours flying.

But Independent Burnley Councillor Harry Brooks is quite right when he takes colleague Councillor Kath Reade to task for saying that the visit of the Regiment should be at minimal cost to the council.

He maintains that hospitality should be no less than that extended to councillors and their spouses at a Towneley Hall party given by the outgoing mayor, Councillor Arthur Park. The council footed the bill.

Everyone knows that local councils have to to keep a careful eye on expenditure.

But when the local regiment returns from such a tough tour of duty, having put life and limb at risk to make conditions a little safer for the long suffering Bosnians, Burnley should be prepared to spend at least as much as it did on an out-going Mayor's bash.

The QLR did us proud. And we feel sure that the vast majority of Burnley ratepayers would prefer to spend a few bob showing their appreciation for a job well done than blow it on what Harry Brooks describes as a "free beano" for councillors and their spouses.

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