RETURNING home recently from holiday abroad the usual pile of mail greeted me when I opened the door.

When I eventually got the time to sort out the junk from the genuine, one letter took my eye.

It surprised me on two counts, firstly there was no house number on the address, which showed that contrary to belief, there is at least one person with initiative at Royal Mail, and secondly that it was from a complete stranger.

It was from an elderly gentleman who started by apologising for writing to me, but felt that he had to because the letter you printed on May 28 : 'A truly painful extraction' reminded him of a letter that he had written to Blackburn MP Jack Straw, (a letter to which he had had no answer).

The letter went on to say that he was an 82-year-old widower, he served six years in the forces during World War Two, he had worked all his life until retirement, had paid all his taxes and dues, and that he had voted Labour all his life.

He went on to say that when he was informed by his dentist that the practice was going private, he made inquiries and was given a list of 20 practices but all were in the Chorley and Wigan area, out of his reach.

He was despondent and added finally, 'what is the use of voting?'

We have just celebrated the 60th anniversary of D-Day where everyone agreed that we must look after those who fought for our freedom, the poignant thing is we can't even supply these heroes with a dentist.

J ALLAN (Mr), Rothesay Road, Blackburn.