AFTER patiently watching the first instalment of BBC's Referendum Street, one word immediately sprang to mind -- farcical.

This was supposed to be a serious and enlightening debate on the most vital issue of the day, ie. the European question. The producers, however, managed to turn this important topic into a comic opera or a spin off from EastEnders.

The star of this week's episode was Opik Lembit, the Lib-Dem Brussels mouthpiece who, with extremely questionable arguments, managed to confuse the 50 inhabitants of Referendum Street even further.

We must not forget Tony Banks, however, who stole the show by calling a questioner in the crowd "a right wing ****" after simply asking how much it would cost the Britishtaxpayer to ditch the £ and adopt the euro.

Such was the standard of this BBC documentary which otherwise could have been a sincere attempt to separate the half truths from the facts which surround the European issue.

All was not a complete waste of viewing time, however -- the programme was salvaged at the end by a mock-up version of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire quiz show.

Wilfrid Smith, Riversleigh Avenue. Lytham St Annes.