Regarding the article in BEN on Thursday, September 2 by Louise Tansey, just for the record, I wish to state that Heaton Cricket Club Committee did not bow to public pressure as she alleges.

We are quite capable of reaching our own conclusions without the aid of the Bolton Evening News.

We reached our decision purely on the grounds that if you are not sure of any possible health hazard then you should not do it.

Considerations which were taken into account were the previous effects of, for example, lead water piping for drinking water, asbestos, smoking, CJD, and other issues, which had the dangers been aware of say 60 years ago would probably have been avoided, and thus prevented a good deal of human suffering. Eating genetically modified food is another example of what we should not do until it is proven safe.

When our decision was made, we did indeed meet with representatives of the local community, and both groups jointly issued a press release which has not been published in its entirety as we wished.

This is typical of press reporting, which, while not being untruthful, was somewhat misleading.

Mr J B Partington

Hon Secretary

Heaton Cricket Club

Church Road, Bolton

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