GARY Belcher in (Letters, August 16) refers to the town centre and gardens as an "absolute dump". I have a different take. I went into Bournemouth centre on Wednesday with friends. I was very impressed with Pier Approach. And great to see the fair on the Imax land.

However, we were mugged twice. First by the council: £10 for four hours parking. We could have come by bus but one of our group is seriously ill and cannot walk far and so it had to be car and park. And second mugging, £14.50 for fish 'n chips. Outrageous. Crass exploitation of visitors.

I also highly dislike the wretched "zip wire". How shockingly ugly. And worse, try sitting on the end of the pier having a coffee with a screeching zipper flying though the air every five minutes. What a misery.

But the worst of Bournemouth, which I find deeply upsetting, one youngster not more than 22, looking absolutely dreadful and asking for money for a hostel room. I was glad to give him a fiver. When you look into someone's face, and question a few points, you know when someone is in deep distress. And so it was with this homeless young man. Dishevelled, rake thin. Poverty written all over him.

And that is an utter disgrace to Bournemouth. Council raking in thousands a day in parking fees, commercial operators charging shocking prices for the simplest of meals, and in the streets homeless men and women destitute clearly in desperate need. I know myself from many years travelling the world this is how the most exploitative capital-driven countries end up: opulent wealth side by side with extreme poverty.

RON MASSOW, Wellington Road, Bournemouth