I THINK Blackburn with Darwen is a fantastic place, with a cathedral, a shopping centre, a large college, an arena, concert hall, Premiership football club and an MP as high profile as Jack Straw.

With a large Asian population, a large diverse multi-racial, multi-cultural cosmopolitan town with churches, mosques and temples, Blackburn with Darwen is in the top 50 largest towns and cities in England.

Just consider how lucky Blackburn is. All right, Preston won city status.

Preston town centre is larger and a billion times better than Blackburn, but Blackburn is having a construction boom with the new shopping mall, the new bridge is nearly complete, the final orbital route connection to Bolton Road, a large hotel, three or four star, is also in the pipeline.

The town has good vision for the 21st century and is ready for city status.

M DANNY, Wilson Street, Kirklees, West Yorkshire.