IT was just another week in the life of a small town. The bank was robbed at knife-point; a shop was ram-raided; there was an attempt to remove a cash machine from a supermarket and, as I write, a "murder" is being reported in the local press. Muggings, burglaries, robberies and car thefts go unreported as they are so commonplace.

Don't tell us, Tony, that you are winning the fight against crime; don't even tell us you are losing the battle. You have completely lost it! The scum have won; anarchy reigns.

Where is this small town I refer to? Baghdad? Bosnia? Beirut? No, it's good old Ramsbottom where the police tell us that crime rates are below average!

R. G. BARGEE