I have received two parking tickets on two consecutive trips to Bolton. On neither occasion was I aware that I could be committing an offence.

In the first instance I was taking my blind and very elderly mother shopping to Whittaker's.

She must be accompanied at all times, so I parked as close to the shop as possible without appearing to cause an offence or inconvenience.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember all the rules that go with my mother's new blue badge, as I suspect may the same for most people, and found to my dismay that parking in an unused loading area is an offence.

My second "offence" was parking "beyond the bay markings".

Am I to guess that I have committed an offence against a local bylaw designed purely to trap the unwary into providing a source of revenue for the good people of Bolton?

I find Bolton's parking enforcement policy cynical in the extreme. More to the point, I have decided that I cannot afford to shop in Bolton any more.

While the Council seem to have created a "nice little earner", I worry for Bolton's future commercial economy. If too many more people feel like me, this draconian parking enforcement will drive shippers away from the town centre, choosing to spend their hard-earned cash elsewhere.

David Burns Linden Road Worsley