FOR the first time in two years, my husband and I ventured into Bournemouth to have an early evening meal at Cote and followed by a show at The Pavilion, which was a gift given two years ago, and the show got postponed three times.

We decided to park in the Pavilion car park, as the forecast was for rain, so we wanted to be as close as possible to the theatre, and we are not young any more so cannot walk too far.

We were absolutely astonished to find the charge for the car park was £18 for up to six hours, which we had to pay as we didn’t know what time the show finished.

The theatre was less than half full, and we thought it was probably due to the extortionate cost of parking in Bournemouth.

Sadly, we won’t be visiting the Pavilion again, and I wonder how many other people have been put off from visiting due to the high parking charges.

In addition, we were also disappointed with the walk down Westover Road, which used to be the best road in Bournemouth.

There were homeless in doorways, duvets piled up in alleyways, and boarded up shops.

What are the council going to do about this dreadful state of affairs?

SHEILA WOODWARD

Sherwood Avenue, Poole