SIR: I have just returned from what should been a leisurely relaxing lunch in the open air. The events that followed have incensed me so much so that I felt it necessary to put pen to paper, as I'm sure there are many other visitors to the town centre who will echo my thoughts and feelings on the subject.

The subject I refer to is pigeons. While eating my sandwiches on a bench near to the Town Hall, my peace was suddenly disturbed by quite possibly either the stupidest or rudest man I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. This man proceeded to throw seed from a carrier bag, causing a mass influx of pigeons from the Town Hall Square to swarm where I sat. When I explained that I was trying to have my lunch, he looked at me with an expression that indicated he had either no common understanding of the English Language, or else he thought I'd just come down on the last spaceship. I have noticed this pigeon problem every single day. Not only are they dangerous as they fly overhead but, in my opinion, they are disease-ridden, filthy vermin who make a mess of our otherwise beautiful town centre. It is the tax payer who, in the end, foots the bill to pay for the cleaning of the Town Hall and surrounding council buildings, a cost that could surely be minimised if the feeding of pigeons in Bolton town centre was outlawed. We do not after all encourage the townsfolk and visitors of Bolton to feed rats and mice on the banks of the Croal.

Craig Maher

Barnacre Avenue,

Breightmet, Bolton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.