As a fairly newcomer to Blackpool (four years) and a keen horsewoman, I have been following the landau debate closely.

I can fully understand Blackpool wanting to keep its many 19th century traditions like the piers, Grand Theatre and Tower Ballroom etc, but not one that involves the use of animals. The Tower Circus once did, but they moved with the times.

When landaus first began, motor vehicles were very thin on the ground and the horse and carriage was a popular mode of transport, but in this day and age, however well the horses are cared for, the busy Prom of today is no place for horses.

I was shocked to learn that a ban to keep landaus off the Prom on Illuminations weekends imposed in 1955 was lifted. This does not make good horse sense to me.

As far as the horses' welfare is concerned, this is a move backwards in times when animal welfare is moving forward.

Clare Weston.

Blackpool