Madam, Firstly let me say to all readers who are thinking 'guilty as charged' I know, and cannot disagree.

However the circumstances are as follows:

Having parked my car in Gloucester Road today at 3pm, and being aware I only had 30 minutes parking, on my return I was annoyed to see an Enforcement Officer (no longer are they Traffic Wardens), attaching a ticket to my windscreen and photographing my car. When I reached the car and asked her what time I had parked there, she replied: "I don't know, it'll be on the ticket". She presumably watched me park as the ticket times were 1502-1534. In total a parking ticket for being 2 minutes late.

I appreciate they have a job to do, and if they actually sorted out some of the chaos in our streets occasionally it would be easier to swallow, but they seem blind to actually helping anyone. I know they are Enforcement Officers rather than Traffic Wardens and that explains why they are so limited in their role. Firstly they are public servants and need to remember that it is the townsfolk of Ross who pay their wages. If ever they were in any difficulty with an irate motorist, I for one would feel no compulsion to assist them. Secondly, their supervisors in the County Council should be encouraging people to visit the town rather than so pedantically enforce regulations - how many different time periods are there in Cantilupe Road or Broad Street for example? Enforcement Officers have a very difficult job but they must be able to use discretion and flexibility. If you are in town shopping you can't dictate to people on the tills to hurry up, or 'serve me first' because of ill-considered parking restrictions. Their draconian enforcement is doing no-one any favours, least of all themselves. I fear it will all end in tears, and not mine. It is time that the public supported traders of Ross to seek sensible, balanced, reasonable, and most important of all a single time restriction on all streets in the town.

Disgruntled motorist of Ross

Name and address supplied