BY painting double yellow lines almost everywhere in Ludlow, Shropshire County Council has committed bureaucratic vandalism. Double yellow lines are surely to tell drivers where they may not park. Who would park under the Broadgate arch? Who would park in Camp Lane or in Upper Linney or in Market Street where, so to do, would block the entire road?

With two strokes of a yellow brush, the council has destroyed a great part of the character and charm of this historic old town. There is only one thing to be done, all the unnecessary and unsightly yellow lines must be removed. The council has wasted God knows how much money painting them on, now it can spend a bit more and get rid of them.

Parking meters should allow a stay of four hours, if required. People may need time to have lunch as well as shop. Surely we want visitors spending money in the town and being able to feel relaxed while they do so. Meters which only allow two hours would make it impossible. While the park and ride scheme is an excellent idea, it will not suit everybody. If we make parking too much of a pain for visitors, we will be shooting ourselves in the foot.

I understand each house may have two residential parking permits. I trust the council is not proposing to charge £100 per permit. Even in central London an annual parking permit only costs £120. In view of this, I suggest inner Ludlow is charged £100 for the two permits and outer Ludlow £50.

As it is, there will be a race to find legitimate parking places as there will be fewer available parking places than potential permits issued. How is this going to be dealt with?

A third permit, free of charge, must also be issued for the cars of visiting friends and family or tradesmen. Obviously such a permit will display no car registration. Indeed it would make life simpler if none of the permits display car registration but simply the address of the permit holder. It is very unlikely that these permits would be sold by legitimate permit holders for profit - the reason given for not allowing the more user-friendly plan.

It is essential that the above points are taken seriously and acted upon quickly in order that the fears of those of us who live in and love Ludlow are not realised.

Gillie Scarr,

6 Raven Lane,

Ludlow SY8 1BW.

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