Sir.-It is good news that Kaye Cousins, the town centre manager, intends to initiate plans to improve the area known by many as the Top of The Town.

One suggestion is that the name should be changed to the Old Town.

I started calling the area the Old Town many years ago, when I worked as a publicity officer at the Haymarket theatre.

I noticed when I spoke to people who had not been to the Haymarket before, and I said to them that the theatre was at the Top of the Town, their eyes would glaze over and they would answer: "Of course, I go to Guildford to the theatre".

They were especially fond of saying this if they lived in one of the villages surrounding Basingstoke!

However, when I said that the theatre was in the Old Town - the old historic town - the answer would be: "Oh, well, what sort of plays do they put on there?"

There is just one that that worries me. On the possible name change, Kaye Cousins says: "There is a long way to go before we go ahead with this."

I thought: "Here we go, bring on the consultants at great expense and then, in a few years' time, they will tell us in a glossy publication what most of us knew already - or worse still, they will put their own spin on it all and they probably won't even live in Basingstoke!"

I believe the answer is really quite simple - we could all just start calling it the Old Town.

Everyone will know what you mean, but if you happen to be particularly attached to the Top of the Town name, that's up to you.

Personally, I shall be calling in for a cup of coffee at Rose's Coffee Shop at the Haymarket Theatre, in the Old Town, Basingstoke - doesn't that sound lovely? Do join me!

-Hannah Williams, Basingstoke.