I AM fully in agreement with the skaters on the subject of the new congregation rules.

The problems that are caused are caused not by the skaters, but the people who try to stop them skating by deliberately wandering in their paths.

I am not a skater but an MTB street rider. I practise in the Town Hall square as well, but unlike the skaters I cannot

ride when the skaters do due to volume of people and the speeds at which I need to be travelling at.

On more than one occasion I have witnessed persons or groups of people blatantly wander into the paths of on coming skaters, with seemingly no regard for the warnings that the skaters or myself are shouting to them. The problem isn't caused by the fact that there are groups of skaters on the square skating around, they are caused by the arrogance of those people who choose to get in the way, fair enough there are a few genuine near misses, but not half as many as there are deliberate.

Bolton town centre does need a free skate park, as not many of the skaters that I speak to are willing to pay up to £5 per hour for the use of a private skate park.

Roger Parker

Bolton