IT IS common nowadays to criticise local town councils and care companies – sometimes rightly.

I recently lost my 86-year-old father to a longstanding and debilitating illness. For the past 13 years he had been looked after at home (he was disabled amongst other things) by Carol McMenamy and her staff at Haydock Community Care (HCC) in tandem with the social services department of St Helens Council.

I feel duty bound to put on record the fact that in all that time the help we received from both the council and HCC was boundless and always provided in a prompt and efficient manner from unstinting personal care by the staff at the HCC to the provision of home aids, equipment, access to their financial expertise and numerous requests for extra help from the council.

Both parties were truly excellent in their willingness and ability to help.

Not to put too fine a point on it without the help and patience of social services and HCC my wife and I would have been unable to keep dad at home for as long as we did.Thank you all so much.

Graham Marr, Haydock