I READ with interest Michelle Radford's reply (May 3) regarding the on-going issue of parent-and-child parking spaces.

A colleague and I were discussing this, as we have done every week since the first letter was published, and we still don't "get it"!

Why do mothers need a larger parking space which is, in fact, not longer but wider than normal? Are children larger these days? Perhaps if this much space is required to get a child out of a car, then the child would be better served walking to the supermarket!

And how much more room to get out of a car does a child need than an adult? For instance, my colleague's elderly mother is a large lady who has some difficulty walking, so would Ms Radford give up her larger space to allow him to use it. And before she suggests using the "disabled" spaces, his mother is not disabled, merely elderly.

Children and mothers are not incapacitated in any way; they are no different than children and mothers in the past, most of whom managed without vehicles and special parking spaces.

The fact that I do not have children of my own from choice has nothing to do with these opinions. I often take a young relative shopping and have done so since that child was a baby. I have never particularly struggled to get the child in or out of the car and would always prefer any so-called "easier" space to be used by someone more deserving.

SUE ARCHER