Almost every day, The Bolton News receives complaints from motorists about the over-zealous approach of the town's traffic wardens.

Many traders believe that by adopting the letter of the law, the town's wardens are driving shoppers and visitors away from the town centre.

Of course, motorists who are clearly breaking the law or causing an obstruction should be booked.

But today The Bolton News calls on the town's parking bosses to give the wardens the discretion to use their common sense.

It is time to stop booking drivers for putting the sticker in the wrong window, being an inch over the line, or maybe because their car is actually too big to fit perfectly in a designated bay. Bolton needs its parking wardens. But it needs them to be sensible, not draconian.