WE were disappointed but not surprised at Peter Booth's latest outburst against the borough council.

Instead of being a prospective parliamentary candidate he acts as though he is standing in local elections.

As a newcomer to the area, he is being badly advised, listening to only one side of a story before making comments.

He asks whether Labour politicians could enjoy their Christmas dinner while traders are facing hardship. He fails to ask the same question of his own party councillors who supported the move to part-pedestrianise Market Street. He conveniently forgets it was a unanimous decision.

We have no qualms because it was the right decision and shows we are in touch with majority public opinion. He again conveniently ignores the majority view of those surveyed that wish to keep Market Street as it currently is.

He calls for the sprucing up of the town centre, ignoring the responsibility of the shop owners to play their part. It is not just the borough council that is responsible for developing the town centre.

He calls for a town centre manager to be appointed but ignores the fact that the council meets regularly with traders through the Town Centre Forum.

He calls for action on litter and dirt, ignoring the fact that the council acts quickly when problems are identified and ignoring the fact that everyone has their part to play in keeping our environment tidy. Calls for extra bins are always responded to positively.

If Mr Booth truly aspires to represent Chorley at Westminster he would be better advised not to jump on every bandwagon and concentrate on national issues.

Perhaps he could answer our questions to him:

In light of the £16 billion shortfall in the Tories' spending plans, which local schools would close, how many police personnel would be lost, how many local GPs would be lost?

Given that all Tory councillors support the pedestrianisation of Market Street, will he stop undermining his colleagues on the council?

Councillors Adrian Lowe and Steve Holgate, Chorley Borough Council