Sir, – Last week the D&S Times reported that Hambleton Council income from parking charges has passed £100,000 in just eight weeks. In fact, it is much more interesting to drill down into these figures.

According to its own web site, Hambleton owns 1,692 parking spaces (excluding their own free-to-use office spaces). Fortysix per cent of those spaces are in Northallerton. Yet Northallerton is contributing 76 per cent of the income of parking charges. This is excluding monies raised from season tickets and truck parking: With those Northallerton would be contributing an even higher percentage.

Or to put it another way, the people who use Northallerton’s parking are shouldering more than three quarters of Hambleton District’s deficit. In the case of workers, these are likely to be local council tax payers. Those similarly employed in other towns are paying less for Hambleton Council and the way it does business.

Can I ask Coun Arthur Barker (Leader of the Council) to explain in a letter to this newspaper how the lower-paid workers of Northallerton, many of whom are part time, can afford to pay more than they do in other towns? Coun Barker might also like to enlighten the business community as to why his leadership will not lead to more shops and offices closing, as has now been recognised in Richmond – the town that Hambleton held up as evidence that charges do not hurt a town’s prosperity.

I am sure there are many who, like me, look forward to his response.

MARCUS GROVER High Street, Northallerton.