AS a proud Mancunian living in Bolton, Lancashire, for more than 30 years, I have to say that some of your correspondents need to get their facts right about the Greater Manchester debate.

Greater Manchester was never a geographical county, as Trystan Hawkins claims. As there is no longer a Greater Manchester County Council, it follows that there is no longer a county of that name.

Bob Marshall stated that Fallowfield is a town which has been swallowed up, which is not true. It is and always has been a suburb of the City of Manchester. All the places outside the city boundary are in Lancashire or Cheshire - even the City of Manchester itself is in Lancashire.

The attachment of the term 'Greater Manchester to towns outside the city is only being perpetuated by reporters in the media, with the result that a whole generation of young people like Mr Hawkins is growing up mistakenly believing that there is a county called Greater Manchester.

We should be proud of Manchester as the regional centre and all it has to offer, but that does not mean that we and the media should refer to a county that does not exist.

If it is necessary to identify places with the city for location purposes, they could easily be referred to as being in the Manchester Area or near Manchester.

R Swindells Bolton