I UNDERSTAND that Bury's Labour Council has still not sold off the Lowry painting A River Bank, which they took out of the art gallery in Moss Street.

So, there is still time for the people of Bury to protest and stop them selling it.

It reflects badly on the Labour Party in Bury, that, unlike the councillors in every other council in England, they are incapable of managing their council budget without taking a picture from the art gallery and selling it.

After all, it belongs to us, the people who live in Bury, not to councillors who can't keep their books straight.

Each of the arguments they put forward for selling the painting has proved to be wrong.

They said the picture was bought as an investment, when it was actually bought to be put on a wall in the art gallery.

They said it had no connection with Bury, but it was painted while L S Lowry was teaching in the Arts and Crafts Centre next door to Bury art gallery, and it is based on the view from Bury Bridge!

They said it hadn't been on display for four decades. Also they said that it wasn't part of the "core collection", when the art gallery has a good collection of north of England industrial landscape pictures.

The Labour Party only won five of the 17 seats up for election in Bury this May. Perhaps they could begin to regain some of their lost votes by being seen to do the right thing, and put A River Bank back in the art gallery, where it belongs.

On the other hand, the combined votes of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors can outvote Labour in the town hall since the May elections. So our Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors could get together and stop Labour from selling the painting, couldn't they?

Then they would receive the gratitude, and votes of the decent people of our borough who are disgusted at what Labour are doing.

E WORMALD