AT first glance the saga of Fred Curtis’s parking fine (‘Bureaucracy gone mad?’, Daily Echo, June 29) certainly does seem to indicate a lack of compassion, even common sense, on the part of the council.

However, on studying the full story a different picture emerges.

Mr Curtis parked his car at the Pavilion car park on Westover Road and left a note on the windscreen informing parking attendants that he was attending a civic service at St Peter’s Church.

Why did he not purchase and display a parking ticket as the rest of us are required to do?

Mr Curtis says that councillors do not pay for parking on council property.

That may well be true.

However, he is not a councillor – he is the husband of a former mayor.

When he parked his car he did so as an ordinary member of the public.

Unless, of course, free parking for life on council property is yet another hidden perk for councillors and their spouses?

It was, of course, unfortunate that he suffered a heart attack after parking his car but, if I read the report correctly, his fine was not imposed for overstaying his purchased parking time as a result of his heart attack, but for failing to purchase a ticket in the first place.

Under pressure, the council cancelled the fine and sent a full apology to Mr Curtis.

But why? It seems quite clear that he was in the wrong – not the council’s parking attendants.

ROBERT READMAN, Norwich Avenue West, Bournemouth