CITY of York Council evidently expects us to be grateful for the "concession" of a permit costing £84 for those wishing to do something that, up until now, has been free, namely, park in the city centre at night. Many of the local groups to "benefit" from this have an annual membership fee of £20 or £40.

This latest insult by the Liberal Democrat-controlled council in their campaign to fleece night-time users of the city centre effectively doubles or quadruples the membership fees for such groups.

The result will be to drive them away along with the theatre-goers, evening class 'students', cinema-goers and diners, thus handing the centre over to the drunks and the yobs.

As for the Lib-Dems so-called "green agenda", how does this square with the approval recently given for the massive Foss Islands Road shopping development and the traffic congestion in the area that will be the inevitable consequence?

James Elliot,

Lime Avenue, York.

Updated: 10:25 Monday, February 23, 2004