A COUPLE of weekends ago my wife and I visited York for the first time and found York to be a beautiful and very interesting city.

We spent hundreds of pounds in the various restaurants, shops, a hotel, the Minster and museums and decided to return again later this year to continue exploring.

However, since returning home we have received from City of York Council a penalty charge notice as, apparently, in trying to find the road south when leaving on Sunday afternoon, we contravened the Lendal Bridge bus lane.

At the time we were following the map in the booklet produced by Visitor Information which clearly shows that the bridge is fully available to traffic in both directions.

In other cities, the words “bus lane” are clearly shown on the surface of the road and there are large signs on the road side. If there were clear signs, I would have followed them.

I now have to pay a £30 fine and am extremely unhappy. No doubt the council is congratulating itself on dreaming up such an easy money-making scheme.

We will not be returning and spending hundreds of pounds in York after all. The council may have gained £30, but York’s hotels shops and restaurants have lost many times that sum.

D Wright, Cambridge.