IT is very rare I feel the need to reply to a letter in the Guardian, however, on this occasion, I felt I had to respond to J Taylor's letter of August 17, Thinking of moving away'.

Penketh is no different to areas of the same type across the UK. There is very little for the youngsters to do, no easy way into town or parents that do not want their kids to go into town. I cannot speak for most of what J Taylor said about the problems in Penketh but I can speak for the Royal British Legion disco nights as my wife and I arrange the nights.

We have been running these occasional nights for around two years. Initially, we had problems that we, and the British Legion have worked together on and successfully sorted out, including under age drinking. Even though bar staff were checking ID and we ourselves were checking no under age drinking was going on, we did find kids that had been drinking.

We also found that a lot of them were stealing booze from their homes or buying it elsewhere and drinking it just before entering the Legion. This was quickly stamped out. On all occasions, the children were escorted home by us, Legion staff or parents were called and picked them up.

We have worked closely with Warrington and Penketh police who are on-site at all functions we put on throughout the night and at the end of the disco nights making sure people are leaving the premises in an orderly fashion. I have been into Penketh on non-Legion nights and the same things are going on when there is no disco.

It really is a shame that J Taylor is having problems but he is pointing the finger at the wrong establishment. The Royal British Legion is one of the few places in Penketh that has realised that the younger person is the future of its survival and has also been patient and open-minded enough to realise that these children need something to do.

I applaud the staff and committee for giving the youth of the area a chance to have something for themselves. I would challenge anyone from the Penketh area, especially J Taylor, to come to a Friday night disco and say that these children are the trouble-makers. Yes, the music is noisy, the children are loud and dress differently to his/her generation but as a whole, the children at the disco are not the ones causing the problems in the Penketh area, most are from out of the area.

M and J Gallagher Penketh