City of York Council considering ways to encourage loyalty to independent retailers is appropriate. It is amazing that, for every £1 spent in an indy shop, 70 pence is spent locally. This compares to 5 pence from chain stores (The Press, January 18). Just look at the sad demise on a street like Coney Street.

However, at Christmas there was no shortage of business at the Designer Outlet at Naburn or the Vangarde - where there’s free parking.

I remember the halcyon days of Coney Street in the 1960s when it was the premier York shopping street, buzzing with footfall, press vans and prosperity. There were the Leak & Thorpe and Marshall and Snelgrove department stores; Timothy White’s and Burdekins chemists; Jack Lee’s hairdressers, Border’s Cafe, Burton’s tailors, Saxone shoe shop and the Westminster Bank.

For businesses, high rates and long leases must be a barrier and for residents a major factor must be city centre parking charges - so what about reciprocated loyalty for them?

At the appallingly organised Castle Car Park it’s £2.60 an hour - and you have to guess how long you’ll stay. If you purchase a two hour ticket and stay only 70 minutes, then its £5.20 - 7.4 pence a minute. Why can’t we pay on exit? Why make it hard to spend money and rush people out of the city worrying about a pre-paid parking ticket?

The council should have a trial period drastically cutting parking costs.

Keith Massey,

Bishopthorpe, York