AT City of York Council, we are frequently taken on virtual country tours to find tenuous links to councils doing better or worse than York, so we can all be in awe of the brilliance of York’s Labour administration.

Ahead of this week’s Conservative Group call-in, saying all fines should be refunded for the Lendal Bridge debacle, I urge people look 200 miles south west to Bath.

Like us they have a beautiful city, with tourism a key industry and congestion a problem. Like us their council trialled a bridge closure and like York’s experience it was a farce with poor signage and disputes about the scheme’s legality.

There is, however, a vital difference. The ruling group in Bath (they are blighted by Liberal Democrats unlike our curse of Labour) realised they had made a mistake.

Bath’s disgruntled residents and tourists are therefore getting all fines refunded and their debacle sees some closure.

Labour’s York cabinet refuse to do the same, let us hope councillors on the call-in committee tell them to re-consider.

Cllr Chris Steward, York Conservative group leader, City of York Council.