A CITIZEN reader is urging council bosses to bring a bit of history back to Blackburn Boulevard.

John Johnston was walking in King George's playing fields, at Pleasington, when he spotted the old drinking fountain which once stood at Salford Bridge, near the White Bull pub.

The fountain was moved to its present resting place in the late 1940s, to make way for heavy Boulevard traffic.

But Mr Johnston now believes it could be an attractive addition to recent Boulevard improvements.

He said: "Why not bring the old drinking fountain back to the Boulevard. It would be lovely to see a bit of Blackburn restored.

"The fountain had pride of place in all the Victorian photographs, with its exotic lamp-standard on the top.

"But it is now vandalised in lonely exile at Pleasington.

"I am sure it would cost very little to restore it and return it to its rightful place."

Maggy Simms, of Blackburn Museum, who backs the idea, said: "I'm glad someone else believes the fountain should be returned to the Boulevard.

"It was removed in the late 1940s because it was unfashionable for the time and an obstruction to traffic.

"But it has an important part in Blackburn's history. At the time it stood in Salford Bridge, it gave the public a fresh water supply and it was a very beautiful monument."

She added: "In its present location it is getting vandalised, but it is a hardy survivor and should be celebrated."

But a council spokesperson said government regulations prevented the council from installing the drinking fountain in the Boulevard. She said: "We never considered bringing it back because it would be impossible."

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