SIR: Your article "Dogs Rescued from Prison" (BEN Thursday June 26) prompted me to write. In the article, it said that "...when neighbours complained to the environmental health department, they were issued with a recorder to tape the noise levels, but say nothing more was done." I would like to say that those neighbours need not be surprised at the inaction of the Environmental Health Department. I have been trying to get action from them for nearly four and half years! I asked them to investigate certain local neighbours who regularly burned wood, blanketing the area with toxic fumes. Needless to say, the wood-burning still continues and in the words of your article "nothing more was done".

At almost the same time as your article appeared, I came across the leaflet entitled Improving Bolton's Environment: Agenda 21. under the topic Waste and Pollution, the proposals include an enhanced air pollution monitoring network. May I suggest the following:-

What is needed is more ACTION, not more monitoring! Better still, in view of the general lack of action from this Department, it probably would be better to close down the whole of the Environmental. Services Department, sell Hartford House, and use the proceeds to create a fund for people such as myself to take out private legal action against offenders. Then at least the job would get done!

W Whowell, George Street, Horwich

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