I WAS saddened, but not surprised, that Bolton has been rated as the seventh unhealthiest town in the whole of the UK.

The report by the Royal Society for Public Health is based on the number of takeaways, bookmakers, off-licences, payday loan shops, and empty shops on seventy of Britain's town high streets.

The report also concludes the alarming fact that the presence of these outlets has a directly adverse effect on life expectancy of people living close by.

I hope that Bolton's councillors and town planners take note of the report when considering what next to do in our town centre.

With dozens of retail outlets lying empty, what is the point of building more?

The jewel in the crown of Bolton, the Market Place, itself has empty units, so what chance is there of attracting tenants to new builds close by?

The people responsible for Bolton need to think a bit more out of the box, as it is a real embarrassment to have to admit that we Boltonians have the seventh most-deprived town centre in the whole of the British Isles.

Tony Hutchinson

Smithills