REFERRING to the Whiteheads closure. Your feature writer Angela Kelly asks if we can afford to lose another chunk of our retail history.

Well, no, we can't. No more than we can afford to keep losing other chunks of local history from our once unique town.

Town centres are no longer the captive areas they were. Shoppers today enjoy the freedom that enables them to shop in neighbouring towns and out of town complexes. Shopping today is less of a chore and more of a day out for many people.

Town centres, if they are to survive, must retain their uniqueness. There must be a reason for people to want to come to towns like Bolton. Big name stores are important, but they are not unique. They can be found in any big town, anywhere in the UK.

Fortunately, our forbear had the foresight -- sadly lacking in many of today's planners -- to invest in our town. They built our magnificent Town Hall and Civic Centre, the Market Hall and Bolton Market -- places unique to Bolton and magnets to shoppers from all over the North-west. Planners today seem more intent on knocking down our unique buildings.

However, if we want to attract more shoppers to Bolton, and to keep them coming, other aspects need to be considered. Cheap, or even free, car parks, decent bus and rail stations, and ample clean, attended toilet blocks. If Bolton fails to provide these vital amenities, shoppers will do as they are tending to do now, shop where they are provided for, at Middlebrook, Trafford Park, Freeport, etc.

Town centres need not fear out of town complexes. Indeed, they should compliment each other. But town centres must remain unique, and must provide the essential these places provide in abundance.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove,

Bolton