In response to J Dawson's letter (March 19) we should like to point out that Town and City Parking Limited have been contracted to Asda to manage the parking at the York store car park as well as at 63 other stores throughout the UK.

The issue of disabled parking bays is one that both Town and City Parking Limited and Asda are very keen to address because of previous abuse of disabled bays by those who do not hold the correct badges.

The car park is not covered by the Road Traffic Act but it is covered by the clearly-advertised terms and conditions displayed on signs throughout the car park. The terms and conditions have been introduced to benefit shoppers and to keep the car park free for genuine Asda customers.

Having investigated the matter with our attendant on site he has assured us he did not notice a disabled badge on display in the vehicle in question.

If Mr or Mrs Dawson had contacted us at the time the notice was issued he or she would have been advised to forward a copy of the civil penalty notice and a copy of the disabled badge to our head office in Perth.

Once we confirmed the badge to be valid, the notice would have been cancelled. Our contact details are on the penalty notice and a helpline number is on the signs within the car park.

We wish to point out that this offer of cancellation still stands should Mr or Mrs Dawson wish to send us copies of the relevant documents.

D Edmeades,

Civil Penalty Manager,

Town and City Parking Ltd,

City House,

Glover Street, Perth.

Updated: 11:59 Wednesday, March 24, 2004