The Illuminations are a fantastic draw for tourists into the area, but I feel that the council ought to be doing more to ensure the lives of
locals are disrupted as little as possible.
I live in Bispham near the Promenade and
arrived home recently at 3.30pm to find not one single parking space available on my street, nor the street next to it, nor the one next to that.
I had six heavy bags of shopping to carry and yet I was not able to park legally anywhere near my house.
There is not ample parking for all the tourists who come to Bispham to wait for the Illuminations to switch on and so they park on residential streets which is incredibly
frustrating for those of us who live on those streets.
Just as annoying is the litter they leave
behind and throw into our gardens.
I contacted the council on July 23 regarding residents parking, having spoken to many neighbours who would gladly pay to be able to park on their own street. I was emailed promptly back saying David Pye, the Parking
Officer would "respond to me directly". I have heard nothing from him since.
One day, I eventually had to park in the lane behind my property, even though there are
yellow lines, as there was simply nowhere else to park. As a consequence my wing mirror was broken and it will cost £106 to have it repaired.
Whist the council and local businesses all benefit financially from the influx of tourists, we locals who pay our council tax all year around are left frustrated and in my case, out of pocket.
Diane Kimantas
Hesketh Avenue, Bispham



Border control is pointless
During the past few weeks
immigration has been in the
spotlight again and Government minister Phil Woolas has assured us that he would make it more
difficult for migrants to enter the UK.
With EU directives and an open borders policy it is impossible to stop people from the member states from coming into Britain.
Given that anyone who
manages to enter any of the
member states can then travel with impunity within the
European Union, it makes a mockery of any British policy on
immigration while we remain a member.
While it is argued immigration helps our economy, many must be attracted to our generous
benefits system which is now being targeted by Eastern
European gangs.
It is about time we put an end to this nonsense once and for all and put the interests of Britain and the British people first.
It is time to take back control of our country.
Philip Griffiths
North West Chairman
UK Independence Party


No to fireworks ban
Regarding the letter "Ban bonfire night" from Dennis
Cavanagh (The Gazette,
October 31), why do people have to say the same thing year in year out, when Bonfire Night comes round?
My two children, aged 11 and 14, both know the meaning of the celebration. It is also my younger son's birthday.
We take care not to have young children anywhere near the fireworks and if we have sparklers, they're lit by a
responsible adult, held at arms length and are put into a bucket of water as soon as they're out.
We have two dogs who don't mind the fireworks going off and enjoy the excitement.
If we didn't have fireworks on bonfire night, my son would be very disappointed. If it was banned altogether, what would happen then?
Could Mr Cavanagh put
himself in the shoes of an 11 year old boy. How he would feel if someone said he couldn't have fireworks on his
November 5 birthday.
Name and address supplied



Gas scheme will not work
I refer to the recent reports and continual updates in The Gazette regarding plans by Canatxx to store 1.5m tonnes of gas under the ground at the Preesall salt field.
I strongly oppose this proposal. I was right at the beginning and nothing has happened to change my mind.
In fact, the more I hear of their bid to try to smooth things over, the more suspicious I
become.
There are many people, I am sure, who think the same.
Putting on a big show at the football club in Stalmine with charts and buses laid on, does not, I repeat, does not fool anybody, least of all the folks Over Wyre.
No matter how they try to tell us it is safe, we have minds of our own and we know it is not safe.
There is no harnessing the gas the way they propose to store it. There are no safety precautions in place.
Telling us at the public inquiry to hide behind a caravan if a fire were to break out just proves it.
The bottom line is there is money to be made. They do not care about little people like us. They will just push and push until they get their own way.
It will not happen.
Even if I have to prostrate
myself on the mud flat to make my point, and get myself locked up, I will.
P Trickett
Douglas Avenue
Stalmine
MPs priorities are not right
I read that Blackpool's two MPs, Joan Humble and Gordon Marsden are supporting a
motion in the House of Commons to get the BBC to bring Strictly Come Dancing back to Blackpool Tower Ballroom (The Gazette, November 1)
They do seem to have strange priorities.If only they had put the same effort into saving our local post offices. We will never forget!
J Parr
Deneway Avenue,
Blackpool
Thanks for lifeboat cash
On behalf of the Ladies Guild of the Blackpool Lifeboat may I that staff and customers at Aldi in
Waterloo Road for donating £345.53 at our collection day.
Barbara Jones
Blackpool Ladies Lifeboat Guild