I READ with amazement your article (LET, September 22) concerning the refusal of Blackburn with Darwen Council to grant a late licence to the owners of the Albion Leisure Centre complex in Blackburn.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it this same council which granted a late licence to the receivers of Moorgate Leisure which had gone into voluntary liquidation - against the wishes of local residents who sent dozens of letters to the town hall?

I'm not against people enjoying themselves and if they want to stay out until the early hours, then that is their business.

But if comparisons are to be made about both night clubs, I would have thought, from a residents' point of view, that the three-feet-thick walls of Albion Leisure and the aspect of the night club, part of Albion Mill overlooking Ewood car park, with the nearest houses some distance away in Bolton Road, would have won hands down. Compare that to the new development taking place adjacent to and surrounding Sutty's Place, where developers are building new houses. I don't think I would like to live in one of them as my experiences of the time I lived in Moorgate Street would show.

Our car was vandalised many times, people urinated in our doorway; there were fights and even people bursting into our neighbour's living room and fighting.

This decision stinks of hypocrisy. The councillors accept the views of one set of residents but ignore the others - a sort of: we-know-what-is-good-for-you-and-no-answering-back council.

I think the biggest problem with this council is that it has not had any decent political opposition for years and now thinks itself fit to make any decisions regardless of the wishes of the residents in the areas concerned.

B SPENCER (ex-Blackburn resident), St Mary's Road, Moston, Manchester.

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