AS a keen supporter of the Royal British Legion and a flag day collector for many years, I fully support Pat Browne and the committee in their protest about the office which has been set aside by the Council as this year's collecting base in Blackburn (LET, October 14).

Anyone who has ever held a collecting tin for any length of time will know how tiring it is and to expect those same people to then walk from the town centre up to Corporation Park, collect another box, walk back to town and start collecting again is asking too much.

The amount of time wasted out of the hours that people are prepared to voluntarily give up for the charity and the added danger from those who have no hesitation about removing the box from the hands of the elderly or the young cadets has obviously not been taken into consideration.

The money raised annually by this organisation is used to benefit those who have suffered on behalf of all of us and it will be reduced drastically if this situation is not remedied quickly.

The Poppy Day Appeal has already begun and it is only over the past two years that the cadet forces have really put their hearts into it through competing against each other.

No matter how hard they try, the amount collected will surely be reduced by the time-wasting exercise of marching up and down Preston New Road. The time to do that is on Remembrance Sunday.

I beg councillors to find other premises, bearing in mind that they must be easily accessible and secure.

It must also be noted that Poppy wreaths have to be collected from these offices too and they can be quite bulky to carry along with boxes of poppies and collecting tins.

EILEEN M EASTHAM (Mrs), Milton Close, Darwen.