I WAS surprised to see a brief item during a recent BBC TV Watchdog programme which referred to the Lendal Bridge closure fines, and gave viewers details of the City of York Council website on which to reclaim any fines.

This is the first time I have seen any reference to the means of seeking redress. Some of our councillors voted against making automatic refunds to all concerned, restricting repayment only to those who made the necessary claims. Perhaps the councillors who voted in this way could explain to me why they did not do the fair and honest thing by voting for full refunds?

Could it be that the cost of administering the fines in the first instance, together will the cost of administering full refunds would result in a deficit so far as council taxpayers are concerned?

Ian Collinson, Longridge Lane, Nether Poppleton, York.