Readers' letters

Your help is required.

Is this your old fridge, suitcases and vacuum 
cleaner carelessly dumped on School Lane, off Bury Lane, Chorley?

Did you give them to someone who promised to dispose of them properly by taking it to the tip or, conversely, did you think you could dump them on a quiet country lane and no one would bother, leaving it to the council and 
the rate payer to pick up the 
bill?

Do you know who dumped this rubbish, including the recently abandoned derelict caravan and the stone flags?

If you do, do your community a favour and ‘dob’ ‘em in at once...

Name and address supplied

Fireworks are causing distress

It is high time the ongoing anti-social behaviour of gangs of youths within the West End of Morecambe was taken more seriously because the consequences of their behaviour is beginning to have a debilitating impact on the quality of life of residents.

The latest issue is, of course, the misuse of fireworks because currently we have a situation where people are treated to the sound of loud bangs from early afternoon.

One has to question why these youths have access to fireworks because, in accordance with the law, it is illegal to buy and possess fireworks if you are under the age of 18, yet these gangs of youths continue to be in possession of them.

One has to question who is selling these young people fireworks and, once again, why are the parents of these young people not monitoring their behaviour?

These fireworks not only cause distress to residents but they also have a negative impact on the wellbeing of pets and wildlife.

We have seem some drastic cuts to community policing in recent years, but this is a potentially serious issue that could lead to unfortunate consequences if the issue is not addressed by the police and other agencies.

Police need to be responding quickly when people call and action needs to be taken against anybody allowing these youths to access fireworks.

David Whitaker,

Lancaster City Councillor,

Harbour Ward

Public inquiry was needed

I’m sure I’m not the only one to be disgusted by Amber Rudd’s decision not to hold a public inquiry into Orgreave. Okay, nobody died and nobody went to jail. But that was only because of good luck and because the cases that did go to court got kicked out due to a lack of evidence.

But evidence does exist that the police were ordered to use excessive force and fabricate evidence. Evidence exists from journalists that the BBC reversed its TV coverage so that it looked like the miners had started the violence and not the other way around.

This matter is not about deaths or jail, but about the state (for instance, government old or new) abusing its power, brutalising its own people and using propaganda to cover up its actions. That is worthy of any public inquiry.

Paul Dodenhoff, address supplied

I ‘mist’ the fog
on Halloween

On Halloween I found I’d run out of milk. So I thought I’d take a chance and venture out to buy some. I looked out of my window and I couldn’t believe just how foggy it was – it looked like a setting for a Hammer horror film.

So I thought I’d go out and catch some fog. Sadly, I mist!

Darryl Ashton, Blackpool

UK gas is better than imported

I was disappointed you didn’t show the results of our survey showing 79 per cent support for using UK shale gas rather than imported liquid natural gas (LNG), whilst focusing on the Government survey showing support for fracking falling, with 33 per cent opposed and 17 per cent in support (LEP October 28).

Although much smaller, our survey was an attempt to move the debate forward.

Given continued heavy lobbying, creating a climate of fear and uncertainty around fracking, it is unsurprising people are very wary. If shale gas is presented as one option and renewables another, then people are never going to opt for fracking.

Post 2030, the UK will be 90 per cent reliant on gas imports, with increasing dependence on shale gas from the US, LNG from Qatar and Russian gas.

This will cost £15bn a year – or more if the pound loses value.

As well as costing a lot less and raising tax revenues for the UK, domestic gas will be greener as the carbon footprint of gas produced next to our gas grid is much better than gas shipped here from Qatar.

I’m writing as a Lancastrian and a gas man and I believe that, aside from being a massive bonus for the UK, shale will also bring much needed new investment and jobs to Lancashire, without harming the county I love.

We have much to lose by continuing inaction and, in Brexit Britain, a huge amount to gain by building a new cleaner energy industry.

John Baldwin, managing director,

CNG Services

Darker days will lie ahead

When Tony Blair was the Prime Minister, I did not always agree with his policies and marched in London against the invasion of Iraq.

Mr Blair has stated in a newspaper that the withdrawal from the EU is the greatest foreign policy disaster this country will ever know. It could take at least 10 years for this country to rebuild, if ever.

I totally agree with him on that statement. Now, in some parts of the country, unemployment is on the rise, plus the cost of living is on the increase. This is what happens when petrol or diesel prices go up. People who it will affect will be pensioners, one parent families and the unemployed. Darker days ahead.

John G Wildie, address supplied