CONGRATULATIONS to The Lancashire Fusiliers' on the celebration of its 50th anniversary!

I trust that the service held on Sunday and the following parade through the town, were successful.

Unfortunately, the celebrations had an unforeseen side-effect, as far as I was concerned.

Each Sunday, I attend the service at Bury Unitarian Church, which takes place at 11.15am.

There has been a church on the Bank Street/Silver Street site for nearly 300 years now.

Church attendance is very important to me, as it is to all our members, and this is what we all choose to do, on Sundays. However, on April 29, because of the parade, a decision was taken to close roads in the town centre.

We were not informed, in advance, nor were we advised as to how we might most easily reach our premises.

When I arrived at church at 10.30am, much of Silver Street was already coned and closed off in preparation for an event which was not due to begin until 12.45pm.

The road remained closed until at least that time and, presumably, later into the afternoon, until the parade dispersed.

The result of the closures was that some of our members were unable to reach us, and our congregation was, consequently, halved. Those who did succeed in arriving in time for the service discovered, afterwards, that they were unable to leave, despite trying to do so as swiftly as they could, and this caused a fair amount of anxiety.

I attempted to discover further details about the road-closures by leaving a message on the Bury Council website, on April 25, after I had been made aware of information printed in the Bury Times.

Nobody had the courtesy to reply.

Am I being unreasonable in expecting a little consultation and consideration from my local authority?

Anne Mills

Chairman of the Congregation

Bury Unitarian Church