ONCE again that the old chestnut of whether Bury is in Lancashire or Greater Manchester has reared its head (Your Letters, August 1).

Firstly, may I point out that the correct postal address within Bury has always been Lancashire and has never been Greater Manchester.

Secondly, the Local Government Act of 1972 abolished the administrative county of Lancashire, created in 1888, but did not abolish the historical Lancashire County.

Thirdly, in 1974 the internal boundaries within Lancashire were re-organised into three new administrative regions, namely Lancashire County together with the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside. This did not alter the fact that these new administrative counties were themselves still within the historical county of Lancashire.

Finally, in 1986 the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside were abolished, each being replaced with a number of self-governing unitary authorities, whilst the Lancashire County administrative area stayed the same.

These 1974 and 1986 changes have caused much confusion and repeatedly provoke the question: Is Bury in Lancashire or Greater Manchester?

The simple answer is that Bury is now an independently administered metropolitan council and is still, as it always has been, part of the historical county of Lancashire. Greater Manchester, on the other hand, no longer exists, even though the name continues to be used by some organisations that are based on the former administrative county. For example, the Greater Manchester Fire Authority was established by the Local Government Act 1985 and took over statutory responsibility for fire services that were provided by the county council until its abolition in 1986.

I trust that this satisfactorily explains the situation to correspondent Mr Mundy and his fellow Mancunians?

PETER GOULD BSc.,

Tarn Drive, Bury.