COUNCILLOR Malcolm Doherty should take his head out of the sand and heed the criticism of Blackburn made in a recent travel guide (LET, April 26).

Blackburn is a dump - evacuees from Montserrat said so. A prisoner would sooner be behind bars than live here (LET, April 12).

And a noted historian wrote about the town centre in 1960: "It is little more than a jumble of discordant units. There is no wide concept of grandeur or dignity, nothing to impress, to uplift, to pass proudly on to posterity."

Instead of being constructive, the council squanders public money on useless childish rubbish - sorry, works of art.

One of the few decent things about Blackburn is the folk. Unfortunately, they stand in the dark shadow of a total eclipse.

A SEDGWICK (Mr), Lyndhurst Avenue, Blackburn.

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