DID anyone else notice the absence of cyclists in the Bury area during the recent fuel crisis? If a fuel shortage can't persuade drivers out of their cars and onto our cycle lanes then I am afraid nothing will.

I purchased a nice new bike, which is still a nice new bike, because I quickly realised that our roads are far too dangerous for me to use it.

The cycle path running up the disused Bury to Bolton rail link looks impressive, but how long will it be before it becomes an excellent escape route for stolen cars or motor bikes? While recently riding in the cycle lane along Bolton Road in to Bury, I soon found myself having to cycle around cars and in to the main flow of traffic because of vehicles "nosing out" of side streets. They use the continuous white cycle line as a "stop" line. This is particularly evident near the Peugeot garage and the Texaco filling station.

From a motoring safety point of view, how can it be safer for traffic to be forced closer together? And having read that Brandlesholme is about to get cycle lanes, I cannot wait to see the bottle-neck, which already exists at Woodhill, being squeezed even tighter.

I view the pedestrian lanes and cycle lanes at the bottom of Bolton Street with disbelief. How long will it be before someone is injured there? You would think that we would be striving to keep the footpaths free of obstacles for the infirm or elderly, not cluttering them up with more signposts, in some cases no more than six inches away from existing ones.

No doubt a big grant is awarded for this sort of work so it does not matter that our town looks ever more cluttered! When will someone see sense?

MR B. PEEL,

Henley Close, Bury.