IT was thanks to the speedy reporting of the Lancashire Telegraph that I was informed with less than two weeks to go that the fundraising event which we at the Blackburn Office of Relate Lancashire had been planning since September 2006 would no longer take place.

I refer to the closure of the Lord Street, Blackburn, charity shop, well-known to all afficionados of charity shop shopping, as I am myself, and a source of much needed funds for many local organisations.

We at Relate had set ourselves a target to raise a sum of money sufficient to fund the training of a relationship counsellor. Through the generosity of donors we had accumulated a large quantity of saleable items - clothing, bric-a-brac, books etc.

With our reception office and a small storage room (the gents loo actually) bursting at the seams what were we to do? Well, a stall on Blackburn's three-day market seemed a reasonable solution.

After the recent Bank Holiday weekend's trading, though, things didn't look good - needing to raise the usual daily rental charged to all casual' traders, whilst restricted to selling only non-clothing items at very favourable prices (either that or take it all home again). Basic economic principles dictated that a third day would simply take us into losing, not gaining income.

So we came away with a tenth of what we would have realised in the Lord Street West premises, and yet overheads nearly matched.

I accept the council has a duty to comply with regulations in the interests of public safety - I do wonder, though, when the last inspection took place and what plans were made then to upgrade this already rather dilapidated venue.

Regulations don't just change overnight - and having taken this instant decision why were no alternative arrangements considered?

We still have half our stock' and all the adults' and children's clothing, so we are holding a yard sale' on Saturday, June 30 between 11am and 2pm in the forecourt of the Sharples building at 50 Preston New Road, but sadly the Blackburn office won't be funding the training of a much-needed counsellor for a while.

DOROTHY OSBORNE, Ashworth Close, Blackburn.