I BET I wasn't the only one who was surprised to find themselves swell with pride when the Queen visited Blackburn's Church Street last week.

She was greeted by glorious sunshine, hundreds of loyal flag-waving subjects and a neat-and-tidy street.

The flowerbeds were in bloom, the streets were litter-free, every i had been dotted and t crossed.

Even the most ardent moaner would've been forced to admit Blackburn didn't look half bad.

I know a lot of people have been doing a lot of hard work in recent years to regenerate the town centre, but why did it take a royal visit for them to really pull their socks up and tie up the loose ends?

It's been four months since plans to revamp The Mall shopping centre were given the official go-ahead, yet it was only the week before Her Majesty chose to drop by that the powers that be decided the tatty red brick buildings opposite the modern white pavilions were an eyesore so horrific they simply had to be covered in jazzy pink wrapping paper.

And although hundreds of commuters every day have had to put up with the leaky smelly tunnel at Blackburn train station, The Queen announces she's coming, and miraculously within a couple of days the place is stripped and re-tiled.

The council would no doubt argue that these particular improvements were due anyway, but it can't be coincidence they all happened in time for the royal visit.

I'm not complaining the work needed doing. But it does make you wonder why the council doesn't appear to care as much about the citizens who have chosen to live their lives in Blackburn, to spend their money in the town's shops and to contribute to the community, as much as the Queen, who stayed for half an hour (which, incidentally, wasn't half as long as she spent in the posher Ribble Valley).

The royal visit proved that bureaucracy and red tape, which often dogs improvements for months and even years, is unnecessary. If something really needs doing the council does have the cash and means of doing it quickly and efficiently.

It's not only the council that's guilty of this it's human nature.

Schools miraculously become well-oiled machines in the weeks before Ofsted inspectors visit and anyone who works in an office will know before a regional manager comes to visit all family photos and comedy mouse-mats have to be replaced to make it look like robots are running the joint.

We all do it.