I WOULD like to thank the people who supported the Liberal Democrats in the general and county elections last week.

Although I am very disappointed that we did not take the Ribble Valley seat, I am pleased that we held our two county divisions and that Labour remained firmly in third place.

I trust their candidate enjoyed working for Nigel Evans.

I want to thank all the people who worked to try and win the seat: my agent, leaflet writers, deliverers, canvassers, office staff, councillors and all who helped in many different ways. I would add further thanks to those who have been with me from previous campaigns, especially Bertha Bradshaw who was my agent in 1983 and 1987.

My proudest moment was in March, 1991, when Ribble Valley people elected me to Parliament at the by-election and got rid of the poll tax. That is a piece of political history that our people made.

MICHAEL CARR, Philips Road, Weir, Bacup.

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