REGARDING your report (LET, January 21) that the council may restore the 1858 memorial drinking fountain uncovered at Darwen Street bridge, can't we save anything of old Blackburn?

Since the 1960s the local authority has destroyed the old town and turned it into a concrete jungle.

When you visit other areas you find they have taken great pride in their history and developed it into a tourist industry.

I noticed last week that all the old frontage of the Roxy Cinema had gone and three or four other buildings in King Street were rotting away.

Yet mini roundabouts abound and we seem to find plenty of money for projects the authority decides on - many unsuccessful - and they write off thousands of pounds each year in unpaid debts.

I am ashamed of the town where I was born.

B HEYWOOD (Mrs), St Michael's Close, Feniscowles, Blackburn.

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