NOW that Blackburn with Darwen Council has been named by the Audit Commission as one of the best local authorities (LET, December 12), will it have the freedom to grit the roads in time for the big freeze on the steep hills in our area?

For while we have an "all-singing, all-dancing" council, we still have an all-skidding, all-sliding public."

Last year, we were stuck in our houses for three days, only to find that when the thaw came on a Friday a team of men were salting the road by hand. It was raining at the time!

I'm amazed that the Lancashire Evening Telegraph should be taken in by this ratings codswallop. Alarm bells rang when I read the council could be exempt from government stepping in to cap council tax. With huge increases year after year, it now looks like the sky is the limit.

As we in this area live nearer the sky than most, would a salt bin break the bank?

SAM SPENCE, Ribblesdale Place, Blackburn.