I SYMPATHISE with the parents of Mrs Walmsley who are suffering because of noisy children and their uncaring parents (Bolton Evening News, May 13).

Over the years I have written many letters to the Bolton Evening News regarding this problem -- not because we have noisy children in our Grove, we don't -- but because this problem is rife through the borough. But is it any wonder!

Take the views of the then Cllr Peter Johnston who, in response to my letters in the Bolton Evening News back in 1996, dismissed the problem as trivial, adding that the police were much too busy dealing with burglaries, theft and muggings. The councillor could not grasp that today's unruly children could well be the burglars, car thieves and muggers of tomorrow.

We had letters from irate mothers bombasting neighbours for chastising their children, saying they had to play somewhere, but giving no consideration to the elderly and sick who can find noise stressful. Instead of letter-writing, these parents should have been getting to know their elderly neighbours. Only by doing this can problems be solved.

But the views of Insp John Dunstan, Head of Operational Policing Unit at Astley Bridge, were perhaps the most pathetic. "We don't have a yob culture in Bolton," just "a lack of tolerance by adults towards young people," he said. This after an estimated 8,000 calls last year in Bolton complaining about yobs and noisy children. This high-ranking officer seems not to understand that by "sorting out" the young nuisances of today, we could well cut down the number of criminals of tomorrow.

In the meantime, our sick and elderly continue to suffer and their cries for help continue to fall on uncaring ears. Maybe those in authority should heed the warning of the elderly Manchester couple who overdosed, leaving a note saying they could no longer tolerate their neighbour's noisy children or the attitude of their parents.

What seems trivial to some can be unbearable to others.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove

Bolton