I HAVE just read, with some astonishment, your article of September 17 reporting the granting of a licence to sell alcohol in Boscombe Crescent.

Everyone knows that the area has huge problems with drug and alcohol abuse, except, it would seem, the magistrates who arrogantly overruled the town licensing committee.

Have they ever visited the area? Do they know how many ‘halfway’ houses and rehabilitation homes there are in Boscombe? Have they seen first hand the drunks literally lying around on park benches? I will happily organise a tour for them. If we cannot rely on the courts and council officers to uphold social and moral values, where do we go from here?

GEOFF COOPER, Methuen Road, Bournemouth