I FEEL compelled to put pen to paper, having finally lost patience with the policing at Gigg Lane.

I cite the Sunderland and Port Vale home games as examples of inept work on behalf of the police. Not only did they fail to ensure that sufficient numbers were in the right parts of the ground to cope with the expected pitch invasions, but when they did occur I saw almost no action being taken - despite earlier police messages on the tannoy warning that such invasions were illegal.

I had to laugh on Sunday when, eventually, two mounted police turned up, only to trot up and down the South Stand in front of the despondent (and very passive) home fans.

We usually get treated to a parade by GMP's finest about 10 minutes before the end of a match, when they have finished standing around in groups looking after the "hardcore" - boisterous but usually well-behaved - fans at the far end of the South Stand.

This I can just about put up with, but when they fail to exercise proper crowd control, I sometimes wonder why I'm paying my council tax to help subsidise their overtime payments.

DOMINIC OWEN,

Radcliffe.

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