WHEN are the electors of Bolton going to wake up? The Socialist Council has been in control for more than 20 years and, since 1997, the council tax has gone up more than 40 per cent.

What do we get for this increase? Do we have cleaner streets, better libraries, improved refuse collection, cleaner parks and better parking facilities? The answer to all these questions is an emphatic "no".

Our main roads are grid-locked by repairs or by idiotic traffic calming measures. Our shops are suffering through high parking charges; libraries are closing or services reduced; parks have become glorified dog lavatories; possible reduction to fortnightly refuse collections. The only beneficiaries seem to be the feckless and the idle.

Neil A P Teixeira

Alexander Road

Tonge Park

Bolton