STEVE Morris plans to light up the lives of poetry fans with his first book of fun verse.

An employee of Wigan Council's engineering staff his comical musings have been published as "Knicker Night and Other Tales."

Although street lighting technician Steve, 50, of Leigh has been writing poetry all his life, he has only recently taken it up seriously.

He said: "I don't call myself a poet. These are stories told in verse. I am very serious about what I do, but what I do is not serious. My verses are intended to be humorous with a northern slant, and I hope people will enjoy them and find pleasure in them.

"I must acknowledge the encouragement of my fellow members of Towpath, the co-operative of creative writers who have published my poems. Founded with a grant from Wigan Council last spring, this will be their fifth publication."

Borough engineer John Simm, said: "We know about Steve's poetry because he is a regular contributor to our in-house magazine and never fails to amuse readers. We wish him well with his book and hope it will be the first of many.

"I like to think that it shows that the staff of my department, although dedicated to their professional work and highly competent in doing it, can also bring creativity and a sense of humour to what they do."

Among the subject matter covered by Steve, while he worked on the maintenance of the borough's street lighting columns, are Knicker Night at the Legion, Barney Grimshaw's Mid-Life Crisis, Billy Bent's Demise, the chickens of Benny McTeer who changed his underwear four times a year, and a Northern Bye Bye Blues which features 'boring bugger Brenda".

The book is available, price £3.50, from Towpath Press, 4, Canterbury Avenue, Lowton, Warrington, WA3 2HA.

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