RE the article in the Bolton Evening News (Friday, August 13), about the proposed improvements to the Market Hall.

Whenever I visit other towns, I am only too pleased to find individual shops full of character, rather than the carbon copy stores which seem to be taking over the whole of the country.

Yes, Bolton must keep up with the competition, but at what expense? Look at what that competition consists of a lot of the time - numerous "pound" shops under various names, the usual gamut of ladies clothes shops, greeting cards and shoe shops - do we really need more?

I say save the Market Hall traders. I don't want to be part of another cloned town centre where all you see are exactly the same stores as in the next town.

We need individuality in this world, but it is continually being eroded, and this is just another example of this erosion.

It is such a pleasure to visit other Lancashire towns, such as Clitheroe for example, which retain their own identity.

If Bolton wants to attract visitors, it must be different, not the same as so many other places.

Anne Hargreaves

Grimeford Lane

Blackrod