LANCASTER town hall in its upper echelons is not exactly seen as a beacon of competence or excellence so it is rather sad that the immediate reaction of our first citizen to the imposition of a fixed penalty for illegal parking is to dismiss the incident as having nothing to do with her. Is there one law for civic dignitaries and another for the townspeople? Our municipal leaders lay down the bye-laws which impinge on our everyday lives and nobody is above the law. From your lofty station madam your public statements and deeds should be aimed at setting standards for the hoi-polloi below

Pay the penalty from your own purse and earn the respect which you cannot otherwise expect, still less demand.

J Moore

Morecambe

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.