YOU reported how a reader found cheaper parking costs in holiday towns on the south coast and places such as Swanage and Hungerford.

This is someone possibly living in the past and surely once again misses the point with regard to our parking charges.

The towns that your correspondent mentioned are not York, which is a mediaeval city, unique in many ways and with particular traffic problems and congestion amidst its narrow streets and old buildings.

Surely the purpose of a traffic charging policy should be partly to act as a deterrent to the use of the private motor car in the centre and to encourage the use of taxis and public transport.

Walking round the city in the early evening, I have not seen much evidence that the city is quiet in the way that some correspondents have stated.

There are many small businesses of course in the city and sadly it is a fact that many of them will not survive in the current competitive world.

P J Boyle,

Homeyork House,

Danesmead,

Fulford,

York.

Updated: 11:21 Thursday, November 04, 2004