HOW do you feel about the place you live in? Read on to find out how to get your ideas in print and on to our Internet web site.

All 33 pupils of Year Four at Sudell County Primary School in Darwen have already put their thoughts into letters and sent them off to Prime Minister Tony Blair and their own MP Janet Anderson.

And within days they received a card from their MP and a letter from the Prime Minister thanking the eight year olds and their teacher Jill Strong for their interesting ideas and suggestions.

Some of their comments suggested improvements to their town. Kimberley Riley wrote in her letter to Janet Anderson:

"Dear Janet Anderson, I would like you to make Darwen a better place and stop crimes going on. I would like you to put up a hospital in Darwen as well as Blackburn.

"I want all the litter picking up off the floor so it will look neat and tidy. I also want more market places in Darwen so that we don't have to go to Blackburn to get food.

"I want people to use bikes and buses because there are too many cars on the road. If people would like to use their cars please drive carefully and slowly.

" Thank you for looking after Darwen. I hope you will enjoy reading my letter." Cassy Benson made some positive comments about her home town to Tony Blair: "I like living in Darwen," she wrote, "because it has a good town centre.

"We can have a walk to Darwen Tower to get a good view. But we would like a cinema in Darwen," she added.

Christopher Smalley has mixed feelings about the area, writing that "Darwen has a leisure centre, and that's one of the things I like."

But he expressed concern about crime levels, particularly house burglaries and drug selling.

However, he pointed out that his school was helping to tackle the litter problem and to care for the environment by running a recycling club.

So, if you are aged 16 or under, why not drop us a few lines about your own area - perhaps suggesting practical ideas for making improvements.

Please send them to Rita Shaw, NIE Co-ordinator, Lancashire Evening Telegraph, High Street, Blackburn, BB1 1HT. Don't forget that the NIE column is updated every week on our web site.

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