IN response to Cllr Nick Peel's letter, I do not feel that Brian Derbyshire is 'lost in De Lacy Drive' as he puts it; but indeed Brian made some very valid points.

Properties on De Lacy Drive are void simply because nobody wants to live there. Not even free, as most people applying to live in these areas would be on benefits. Numerous clean up campaigns have never worked, one of the reasons the estate is being demolished. Lack of sustainability comes about because, as we read in the BEN, the poor shopkeeper repeatedly having his business broken into, even thinking of moving to Yorkshire in desperation.

The 'anti-social riff raff' Brian writes about have even spoiled many private streets, where residents previously lived in harmony for many years. They move into an area with their unruly children, at no expense to themselves, and then vandalise and terrorise that area. There is no reason why they cannot look after their offspring as they do not work and are at home all day. These people are continually being re-housed at great cost to the taxpayer. We have endless theories put forward by people like Cllr Nick Peel as to why they are like they are. These people have socially excluded themselves because they have no respect for society. They are, as American Social Scientist Charles Murray, puts it 'an under class.'

E Ben-haim

Bradford Street

Bolton