OH, yes, Gerald Turner (Letters, December 15) how I do agree with all your comments about parking in Blackburn.

Some days prior to your visit of December 6, I travelled with my daughter at about 2pm and it took me 20 minutes to get from St Alban's Church to Penny Street.

Fifteen minutes were spent at the junction of Penny Street and Brown Street. I decided to try the overhead car park on Brown Street.

Having entered the car park, I spent a further 20 minutes, along with at least another 15 cars, both ahead and behind me, driving round and round in circles.

Why? There were no spaces available! Why (again) was the uniformed car park attendant allowing still more cars to enter when it was painfully obvious to everyone what the situation was?

Pay and display - you must be joking. I did not!

And furthermore, I made one purchase, returned to the car and have since done what Mr Turner suggests. All my shopping has been done in Accrington and Oswaldtwistle where parking and sanity are assured.

The traders of Blackburn Markets and the precinct have my deepest sympathy.

I believe that all concerned with parking in Blackburn should get their heads out of the sand and realise that no amount of money spent on refurbishing and modernising will make the slightest difference to hundreds of people, who, like me, work full time and have no desire whatsoever to spend one-and-a-half hours trying to park their cars and part with hard-earned cash for the inconvenience.

PAT DARWIN, Furness Avenue, Little Harwood, Blackburn.

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