REGARDING the sale of the Park Lee Hospital site in Blackburn (LET, May 20) which is to become a boarding school, on Bank Holiday Monday, I visited a relative who lives in this area and was appalled and disheartened by what I witnessed.

It was early afternoon and we were gardening. We were subject to continual disturbance by gangs of youths chasing each other, hurling stones and chasing up and down in cars!

My relative has been subject to this and verbal abuse for more than two weeks now. It is making her ill.

Although she has rung the police, who seem to be there all the time, little is being done to help the situation.

I fail to understand how permission has been granted to change the use of the hospital as residents had no prior knowledge of this. I thought that the views of local people were taken into consideration before such decisions are made. The lives of these people are deeply affected by such a scheme. The area is totally unsuitable for a boarding school. My relative is talking about moving away already.

What about the Hospice? Do people who have to spend the last few days of their lives here have to be subject to this sort of continual noise. I have known several people who have gone into the Hospice to end their days and the peace and tranquillity gave me peace of mind. I am so pleased they have not been subject to this sort of mayhem.

Are the patients' lives of no consequence to anyone? The people of this area raised a lot of the money for this Hospice and are proud of it, now have their views been disregarded?

I simply cannot understand how this decision has been made.

G SHAW, Eccleshill Gardens, Darwen.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.