I INCURRED a parking fine when I visited York to see a pantomime. I paid it but it is the good people of York who will eventually foot the bill.

This year my wife and I did much of our Christmas shopping in York. We like the city centre and the variety it offers. We also attend the panto every year along with many others from outside the city.

Our total spend in York is somewhere in the region of £500 a year. Multiply that by the number of people who are affected by the parking difficulties. Many of those encountering the inadequate city centre facilities will probably use York's out-of-town centres such as Monks Cross for shopping, but many like us will not. There are far better modern shopping malls than anything York has to offer in Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield.

We understand the need to regulate traffic in any city, especially one with ancient streets and historic sites, but parking rules need to be realistic and applied sensibly if people are not to feel unfairly treated.

Where we were parked is an area marked for motorcycles but there was not one on the car park. It is hard to see what this parking restriction achieves, apart from adding to the feeling of being unwelcome in York and, of course, a short-term gain of £30.

At best the stringent application of unnecessarily restrictive parking rules will prevent the city's development. At worst the city centre will die as a commercially viable place to trade.

C J Bradley,

St Andrew's Terrace,

Crosshills, Keighley.

Updated: 10:51 Thursday, January 29, 2004