WE have all had a pretty wretched and miserable time during the last three lockdowns, with the mood only slightly lightened by the opening of more shops to allow a bit of “retail therapy”.

However, in the last week first my wife and then my daughter have received £100 parking fines for exceeding the time limits imposed upon “free” car parking at Castlepoint and Turbary retail parks.

The time limits of four hours and three hours respectively make no allowances for the fact that social distancing is still imposed for all the outlets, which often requires queueing outside a particular shop before being allowed in – and heaven help you if you dare to have lunch in one of the  cafes or coffee shops.

As you can imagine, having a £100 fine imposed for staying a few minutes over these arbitrary limits (as was the case in both the instances above) seems petty, short sighted and entirely motivated by the opportunity to extract revenue from shoppers who were foolish enough to be over-enthusiastic when finally allowed the opportunity to support local retail businesses.

To describe the effect as being counter-productive is an understatement. Both my ladies have decided that they will avoid shopping at Castlepoint or Turbary Park in future and will be advising all of their friends to do likewise.

There are plenty of shopping centres in the area where car parking is available on a reasonable “pay as you go” basis and you can shop at your leisure and convenience without fear of receiving a hefty financial penalty for over-enthusiasm.

DAVE CURNOW

Ashley Drive South, Ashley Heath