I HAD to attend York Hospital last week, which introduced me to the new parking facilities.

The first problem arose when I stopped to collect a parking ticket from the entrance machine. It promptly spat into mid air, and the ticket fell under my car. Why are the tickets so flimsy?

Getting out of my car, I noticed the lack of pedestrian exit signs. I later saw some by the lift well at the far side, but none on the hospital side. Visitors were mingling with the cars while endeavouring to find their way out.

I was on site for 17 minutes, which equated to a little over 10p per minute. Expensive, yes. Acceptable, no especially when the equipment used in my test has been recovered from our hospital in Selby.

Endeavouring to make payment to the machine by the car park office was, for some visitors, a little traumatic. The machine was rejecting coins, which slowed down the process.

On offering my ticket up to the barrier, I found the wind strong enough to treat it like tissue paper.

The hospital needs to take a long hard look at the new car park.

David Rhodes, The Shrubberies, Cliffe.