WHEN most people relied on public transport to get about, town centres could depend on local people to do their shopping locally.

Nowadays, when most families own a car, and with the upsurge of out of town shopping malls, it's a very different story. Town and city centres have to attract shoppers by every means possible.

Most big centres have the usual High Street stores, so, in themselves, these places aren't the attraction. It's the unique, one-off places that bring in the crowds.

Bolton Market is one such place. Bus loads of people come to Bolton every week, to visit the market.

Sadly, over the years, Bolton has lost most of its "unique attractions", due to legalised vandalism and negative thinking by the powers-that-be.

Even more sad, is the fact that these people never seem to learn. The few toilets left open, are now going to be left open for even less time. This just isn't good enough! Listen to the people!

If the council is so short of money, why don't they charge us to enter? Use a turnstile at the entrance. This way you could keep out the "unwanted".

No one would object to paying, say 10p, for a clean, attendant-looked-after toilet. Surely this is a much better alternative to closing toilets early, or closing them altogether.

And please - don't even think about super-loos!

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove, Bolton

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.