THE debate about where a statue in tribute to Benny Hill should be erected continues - Eastleigh, Teddington or Southampton.

The facts are that he was born Alfred Hawthorn Hill on January 21, 1924, at 30 Bridge Street, Southampton (now 111 Bernard Street) and in the spring of 1924 moved to St Helen's, Wilton Road (now 162 Wilton Road, Shirley). In the spring of 1931 he moved to 22 Westrow Gardens, off of Northlands Road.

On September 2, 1939, he was evacuated to Bournemouth, returning to Southampton early in 1940 to Halderford, The Berrear, Hounsdown.

During July 1940 until August 6, 1941, he lived at 8 The Nook, Eastleigh. His employment in Eastleigh was that of a trainee manager at Woolworths and a milkman.

He was then on the road until November 20, 1942, when he was taken into military detention and then served in the armed forces.

From August 6, 1941, to June 1986 he lived at various addresses in the London area, returning to live at the family home of 22 Westrow Gardens, Southampton. For a period he slept in a warehouse.

During the summer of 1988 he moved to Flat 7, Fairwater House, 34 Twickenham Road, Teddington, but regularly returned to Westrow Gardens to stay for periods.

He was found dead at Fairwater House on April 20, 1992.

There is no doubt that the statue should be erected in Southampton because Benny Hill was a city man through and through.

He was often seen shopping in the Co-op at Bedford Place carrying his carrier bag and walking on Southampton Common in the steps of his mother when he was a child.

H M PATTERSON, Winchester.