With a reference to a small article headed ‘Pigeons blitz’ (LT, Saturday, September 19), informing the public that under Darwen Street Bridge is to be cleaned and netted during the period of October 11 to October 14, whilst I agree that this is a necessity, I hope that the contractors carrying out the work do so in a correct manner.

Quite some time ago I made countless telephone calls to the council, the highways committee, Network Rail and even the RSPCA regarding several pigeons trapped above the netting.

These birds died a very slow and painful death, literally starving. I witnessed on more than one occasion young children and their parents seeing these birds trapped and suffering, and the comments that the children made was very upsetting.

On three separate occasions I witnessed children very distressed and crying.

I lost count of the number of telephone calls I made and on each occasion was told ‘Oh, it’s nothing to do with us, you need to contact such-a-body.’ In other words, each organsation was passing the buck whilst these poor birds were suffering. Many months down the line, the netting was eventually removed.

I truly hope that this time the contractors do a proper job and ensure there are enough gaps for the birds to get through. Only time will tell.

L M JACKSON, Blackburn.