WELL well the day has finally arrived when I, a Conservative, find myself agreeing with words from the mouth of a member of the Green Party (Letters, January 16).

Alan Johnson says 'The whole Asons debacle should never have happened'. Unfortunately for the electorate of Bolton it very much did happen. We are not mushrooms Mr Morris/ Ms Asquith and we have no intention of letting you treat us as such.....kept in the dark etc.

I have been fascinated over recent years by the campaigns run by The Bolton News to drag the truth out of Bolton Council, often with much yelling and screaming and initial denials as with this outrageous episode. However, in relation to the present subject matter, I am of the opinion that we have not got to the bottom of this sorry story.

I am personally intending to make a request for the intervention of the Local Authority Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, to investigate the actions of those responsible for this disgraceful waste of public funds.

As our dear friend Sherlock Holmes would say, when we have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains however improbable, must be the truth. Well let us seek to find out exactly what that is.

Let us hope that sooner rather than later the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will emerge. I live in hope as opposed to expectation. There are consequences for actions and I believe that we are nowhere near those responsible for this mess suffering theirs.

Ian Holland

Bolton