IN a letter published on this page we are challenged as to why we gave front page coverage in last week's Ledbury Reporter to complaints about £60 parking fines being handed out to people for not parking correctly in the designated areas of a free car park in Ledbury.

For one, hopefully we will be more successful than Herefordshire Council has been in explaining its new policy. Yes it says on the signs, but how many people have time to read the signs in car parks?

It's also our job to reflect issues of legitimate public concern. Judging from the many angry letters we have received about parking enforcement in Ledbury, it seems to many people the council is more interested in collecting money than it is in providing a service.

In the case of the Lawnside Road car park, couldn't drivers have been issued with a warning before receiving a £60 fine. To people already hit by a 14 per cent Council Tax rise, it's like being taxed twice.

Malvern, like Ledbury, also has parking problems which need to be solved, but again the council is as much part of the problem as the solution.

Here, parking charges introduced in once free car parks have pushed parked cars onto the roads. Next to follow, no doubt, will be yellow lines, yet more penalties.

What is the priority here cash or service?