Parking controls

SIR, - Contrary to the tirade of David Purton (Herts Advertiser, March 27), I am greatly in favour of the new parking regulations and I can only hope that they will be enforced with the utmost rigour of the law.

From the tone of his letter, Mr Purton seems to be one of the "I'll-park-where-I-like brigade" and to hell with anyone who thinks he shouldn't. Now I can see from my map that Ennis Close in Harpenden is in an area which is not blighted by illegal pavement parking as are the streets adjacent to me which are close to St Albans City Hospital and where at times it is obligatory for a mother with a child in a pushchair to walk in the road because of selfish and anti-socially minded motorists who think they have a divine right to park on pavements. That same mother will often also have a second child being walked to the local primary school who has more right to the pavement than does the car.

I think Mr Purton has absolutely no case and the sooner the council has enough enforcement officers to implement the new regulations then the safer will be the pavements for all of us.

I do have one complaint though which is that the council must do something to stop the rip-offs they are operating on street pay-and-display meters where "no change given" is the norm. I suspect that they must make a small fortune from people who do not have the exact 90 pence for one hour's parking, just pay £1 and forfeit the change. Maybe the enhanced profits from the new regulations will enable the council to install "honest" machines.

Finally on car parking, I wonder if our lords and masters in boasting of their grandiose improvements to Verulamium Park have given any thought to increasing the number of parking spaces? At the time of writing there is a severe shortage.

PHILIP WEBSTER,

Townsend Drive, St Albans.