THIS newspaper has , in some quarters, been criticised for launching a petition to have the notorious 'Welcome to Leeds' signs, which have been placed on various roads leading into Otley, either removed or at least changed to say 'Welcome to Otley'.

Let's make no mistake about this. There has been overwhelming support for our campaign and this week we handed over to Otley's new Town Mayor, councillor John Eveleigh, more than 2,800 signatures, collected in only 11 days. Many more will follow when the remaining forms are returned and we close the petition this coming Monday, May 31.

However, from a small minority, comments that the petition is political, that instead we should be petitioning the Government to stop the war in Kosovo, that we launched it only to increase sales of our newspaper and that the issue is trivial have been levelled at us.

Firstly, the issue of the signs is in no way political. It wouldn't have mattered who was responsible for the signs - our stance would have been exactly the same.

Secondly, the war in Kosovo is indeed political. It is also a national and international issue and, we would argue, makes a bad comparison with the case of the road signs, which is very much a local matter. We are a local newspaper and are dealing with a local matter over which there is a great deal of public anger.

Thirdly, like any newspaper we would always like to have more readers. However, the reason we took a stance against the signs is that we are part of the community, we are based in Otley and we are standing up for what we feel are the views of the majority of residents. We feel that the signs in their current form are an abomination and an insult to our town and we are prepared to do something about it.

Finally, we would ask those who say the issue is trivial to put that point to those who have signed the petition, those who have collected signatures, all those who have written in support and the many others who came to our stand at Otley Show on Saturday to say how much they agreed with our campaign. Trivial, we think not.

The 'Welcome to Leeds' signs ignore the very identity of places like Otley. They should not be allowed to stay as they are. Thanks for your support so far - and please keep those signatures rolling in until Monday.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.