Below is a copy of a letter I have sent to the Bury council's leader and its chief executive about the proposed sale of the Lowry painting A Riverbank: I understand Bury MBC is proceeding with its plan to sell Lowry's A Riverbank.

As you know, I think this an ill-founded decision. The cash value of this picture is trivial in comparison to the council budget. The sale may release as little as 0.1 per cent worth of one year's budget.

This is not a sustainable solution to the council's finances. How will you fund this deficit in future years?

As an educational and cultural asset to Bury this painting is priceless and it would be there every year. The cash you release with this sale will be gone in one shot and the picture never to be seen in Bury again.

I now question the assertion originally made by Bury MBC that the council is free to sell this picture. Your press officer was quoted saying the picture was put away for a rainy day and you could say it is bucketing down in Bury now". A memorable phrase, but it was wrong.

The minutes from 1951 (Minute 3397, April 30, 1951) state the picture was bought for the permanent' collection.

What did the councillors mean and understand when they decided to spend money on a picture by Lowry for the town's permanent' art collection? In the absence of more detail it must be certain they intended it to remain there - permanently'.

What has every interested citizen of the borough believed and understood was meant by the council's permanent art collection' when they paid their council tax over the intervening years?

They do not expect suddenly after 55 years to see the permanent collection being whittled away in futile savings stunts. The loss of museum accreditation will be a far greater cash loss to the council in the long run.

I ask that you treat this letter as a complaint prior to referral to the Local Government Ombudsman. With six months having elapsed since the decision to sell it is time to reconsider. I will also be writing to Christie's to alert them to this challenge.

MR ARNE D SWITHENBANK Leek Staffordshire (Editor's note: The writer's grandfather was founder chairman of Bury Art Society in 1949. A few years later Lowry became its president which he remained until his death in 1976 when Mr Swithenbank's father followed on.)