The story as reported by the Lancashire Evening Post, 7th February, 2008
Margaret Smith, the Conservative Leader of South Ribble Borough Council and councillor for New Longton & Hutton East, thinks the objections by locals in her ward to a recent advertisement written partly in Polish are 'understandable' even though Councillor Smith admits their concerns are based on 'fear of the unknown'.
The mobile advertising board for a recruitment agency was placed outside the former Post Office on Chapel Lane, New Longton for less than 24 hours during which time the council received 45 complaints.
Though the advertisement was not placed illegally it was still forced to move as a result of the complaints.
Another local resident could not understand all the fuss about the recent ad.
She did not want to be identified but told the LEP:
"As far as I know no-one has complained about it being there, there is nothing illegal about it being parked by the side of the road and there are a lot of similar sized signs in the village, so I cannot see the problem".
She also said that the same sign had been positioned on the corner of Strand Road and Marsh Lane in Preston for months without problems.
It seems then that it was the Polish element of the sign which drew the objections.
Councillor Smith explained to the Lancashire Evening Post the context of her constituents' reaction:
"Obviously there are sensitivities relating back to last year's planning application which has put this issue in the front of people's minds and, when they see something like this it, understandably, concerns them."
"People are concerned about what is going to come and this degree of the unknown does make a situation slightly awkward".
Last year a plan by the local owners of the property to turn the former Post Office into a hostel for agricultural workers in the area was turned down after other villagers angrily objected. Some were concerned about how the workers, likely to be of Polish and Latvian origin, would affect the "upmarket and quiet" village.
However, further up the road, Tarleton has long hosted and valued the contribution of such workers from abroad.
One resident who has lived in Tarleton all her life said, "I have never come across any problems at all with immigrants in the village,"
Another resident from nearby Little Hoole said of his Eastern Europeans neighbours:
"They are a lot friendlier than English people...They are polite and hard-working. They have made every effort to integrate round here and there have been no problems at all."
Across the river Preston North End has signed the much-coveted Polishman Grzegorz Szamotulski as goalkeeper.
While PNE fans are quite pleased will Councillor Margaret Smith encourage her constituents to be as welcoming if he decides to buy a property in New Longton?