SOME months ago the BEN printed a letter that was fiercely critical of the Octagon's elitist attitude and the badly selected productions. In response Lawrence Till and several members of the public wrote letters defending the Octagon.

I too had fears for the Octagon's future, so I penned a letter to this effect. Surprisingly, my letter was never printed. I assumed at the time the BEN with its close ties to the Octagon, only printed supportive letters, in order to convey a positive message to the people of Bolton.

If this is the case, the BEN has done both the Octagon and we Boltonians a disservice.

Several people may now be made redundant, and if Bolton can't even support a small theatre how can it hope to become millennium city.

The BEN, through its show-time columns should have voiced fears and campaigned for support long before now.

I hope the rescue package works, and that Mr Till can turn things round. If he can stage more mainstream or local plays, I feel sure he can fill the theatre most nights.

Could Mr Till explain why the Octagon got less than £300,000 while the Royal Exchange received £1.4m from the Arts Council.

Mrs E Roscoe

Avenue Street, Bolton

Editor's note: It is certainly not correct to assume that this newspaper tried to withhold information. I do not recall your letter, but it would have been used had it been factually correct and legally sound. As for offering support to the Octagon, this newspaper is proud of its long association with the theatre, and trust we can continue such a relationship.

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