SIR — I was born in Minehead in 1960 and spent a very happy 18 years of my life growing up in the town before moving to live in East Anglia in 1978.

Since then I have returned to visit my family at least three or four times a year for holidays and short breaks.

I am here, once again, for the Whitsun school break for well over my hundredth visit, and have been dismayed to see how run down and neglected the town has become in places.

So many of the roundabouts that greet visitors to the town are overrun with weeds, as is the Avenue and Seafront promenade.

I walked through Blenheim Gardens to find only two of the beds planted with flowers with the others just bare earth.

I saw at least five large council sponsored flower planters in the Avenue empty. Surely these should have been planted up for the holiday season.

Bins in the gardens and along the seafront were overflowing with rubbish ,and the usually lovely Blenheim Gardens were strewn with litter near the main entrance, including dirty nappy sacks.

The seafront looked run down and a little sad. Weeds were actually growing up through the curved seats that visitors are supposed to sit on when relaxing by the sea.

They will of course have to wade through the mounds of sand that block the steps and pathways to reach the beach.

The shelters have no glass in them and the one near the Jubilee Gardens Café was particularly worn with peeling paint and yet more rubbish!

So many things looked tatty and in need of refurbishment. And why has the once beautifully landscaped roundabout corner of Hopcott Road and Alcombe Road been covered with ugly tarmac?

I can remember when Minehead used to enter and win prizes in the Britain in Bloom competition; when the sea was lit up by the coloured lights that ran the length of the beach; when there were donkey rides on the beach, an open air lido and later the AquaSplash pool.

It is still a beautiful town in a beautiful setting with so much to offer locals and tourists alike.

I am concerned that the neglect I have seen on this visit to one of my favourite places in the world is likely to damage its reputation as a traditional family holiday resort.

And, if the tourists are put off visiting, so many local businesses and jobs will be affected.

I don’t know exactly who is responsible for town management but something needs to be done to smarten up the town.

Wendy Jeffs,

Suffolk.