REGARDING your article about deaths in police custody (LET, November 8), I was concerned at Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans' remarks implying that Lancashire Constabulary was not the best in the country, simply because it has more deaths in custody than anywhere else in the country.

Maybe the rest of the country hasn't as many detainees with suicidal tendencies as Lancashire.

I, along with many other dedicated lay visitors to police stations throughout Lancashire, take great care when inspecting police cells, making sure that the possibility of a death in custody doesn't happen.

If we find any cause for concern, then we bring it to the attention of police immediately. We are only ordinary members of the general public doing a voluntary job for the benefit of the detainees.

While regular checks are made on detainees by custody staff, no one can allow for the actions of a detainee with suicidal tendencies.

I can say, without fear of contradiction, that in the five years of being a lay visitor, I have always found the custody staff, in every police station that I visit, to be very conscientious and diligent in their duties.

COUNCILLOR JOHN WELLS (Lancashire Policy Authority lay visitor), St Leger Court, Accrington.

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