I AM grateful to you for exposing (£12 A Day, May 9) the massive increase in car park charges at York Railway Station.

As a resident of one of the more rural areas within the city of York, I find it patronising in the extreme that Coun Simpson-Laing dismisses the increase as "quite large" and then suggests I use an alternative to my car.

To do this there needs to be a radical extension of the hours the Park & Ride bus service to and from York Designer Outlet operates.

Surely both the ruling Liberal Democrats and the so-called opposition can see that the best way to both secure the economic wellbeing of the city and reduce congestion is to put the alternatives in place before raising car park charges that, in isolation, drive people away?

City of York Council and GNER should be working together to implement a charging policy for car parking at the railway station that does not penalise users of public transport.

Let's hope common sense prevails and we see both the council and the railway businesses driving people onto trains rather than to longer road journeys.

Aidan Nelson,

Back Lane South,

Wheldrake,

York.

HAVING driven around our beautiful city for the past 15 years, I thought I had seen every possible example of traffic mismanagement, but this time City of York Council has really surpassed itself.

As I found while taking an elderly friend to pick up her coach, en-route to her holiday, not only has the council inconvenienced the motorists (which means that someone, somewhere, will get a brownie point towards their promotion), they have actually endangered the lives of pedestrians and the disabled. Heaven help you if you are a senior citizen struggling to get to the coach with heavy luggage!

No wonder they are not counting the first six months' accident figures incurred by the station fiasco. Perhaps someone should tell them that a good solicitor may view matters a little differently, in the pursuance of a damages claim!

After this latest saga, even the buses are not looking happy, and God help the cyclists. So well done City of York Council, you've managed to upset everyone.

Meanwhile, the main victims - the taxi drivers and their passengers - should perhaps be considering some concerted action with the appropriate advisory services.

Liz Edge,

Parkside Close,

York.

Updated: 09:54 Saturday, May 13, 2006