WHILE I sympathise with the residents of Cowper Road, Priory Road etc, I feel that they have completely missed the point. The shoppers and workers who are preventing them from parking outside their own homes are not doing so out of spite, but out of sheer

WHILE I sympathise with the residents of Cowper Road, Priory Road etc, I feel that they have completely missed the point. The shoppers and workers who are preventing them from parking outside their own homes are not doing so out of spite, but out of sheer desperation.

Parking facilities in the town are woefully inadequate. Huntingdon and the surrounding areas have seen a huge number of new homes and substantial business development. Just where are all these new residents and employees meant to park when they come to shop or work?

The Riverside car park seems currently to be in use as an unofficial HHP site for both vans and private cars, although even before this it was filled to capacity on most mornings by 9.30. God only knows what was going on inside the head of the person who planned the Sainsbury's car park. I'd like to say it is a joke, but it's really not funny when it gets to the point where 12 cars are gridlocked and no-one can move either backwards or forwards.

I drive into Huntingdon to work every day. I pay £1.50 per day to park in Mill Common. My terms and conditions say that I can work flexi-time. The reality is however, that I can't work flexi-time at all because, unless I am at work before 9am, I cannot get in the car park.

It would appear that the lack of parking is a deliberate disincentive on behalf of HDC to force us out of our cars and onto public transport. The problem is that public transport really isn't an option for the majority of people living in rural areas or those with young children, elderly parents, heavy shopping etc.

The current situation is totally unacceptable. Independent retailers in the town are already struggling. How long before their businesses are no longer viable? Does HDC really want to turn Huntingdon into a ghost town?

LAURA BURNELL, St Neots