Below is a copy of a letter to Angela Burns AM (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire) re parking in Pembroke.

MAY I prevail upon you to come to the help of lovely Pembroke town against the recent invasion of traffic – crushing measures in our main street?

These measures consist of painting short yellow lines every yard or so some way across the pavement, on the double yellow line (south) side of the road from just past the Town Hall to the Post Office. he effect is now to prohibit loading, in addition to not stopping.

A ‘phone enquiry of the council’s traffic engineer’s office, reveals that the restriction is intended to prevent parking bottlenecks from forming. However, in the same breath they said it would be acceptable for me to continue dropping off my wife for her weekly hair appointment at Salon Robert and to collect her an hour later, “so long as the parking attendant is not around”. This sympathetic view is greatly to their credit and shows them to be kinder than their enforcers the yellow-jacketed parking attendants.

Perhaps I should explain that my wife is 86, has a blue disabled badge and is unable to walk more than a few feet at a time due to severely painful arthritic legs and ankles. Our practice until a few years ago of parking in the short stay park which backs on to Main Street is now beyond the bounds of possibility.

There are other ladies in the same category who, with my wife (and I, plus our circle of friends) derive great benefit from a “good hair day” as I feel sure you will appreciate.

Other aspects of this draconian restriction are that it is imprecise, ineffectual, irregular, ill-directed and harms Pembroke’s economy: Imprecise, as there can be no loading where there is no stopping.

Ineffectual, as traffic jams occur regularly at the Town Hall/Co-op/bus stop area Irregular, as the new yellow lines do not accord with online Traffic Regulations.

Ill-directed, as it wholly ignores the one hour waiting restriction on the north side of Main Street, which is widely and persistently disregarded; in particular by a regular offender who displays a blue disabled badge and has been seen to park in a space for day after day. This one hour and no return rule is also breached by other cheats who lie when challenged by the less wary wardens and get away with it.

May I suggest that it would be a simpler solution to bring in parking meters, just as we already have in the short stay Parade car park in Pembroke and the Asda shopping park in Pembroke Dock. It is a simple rule; pay and display. Any parked car not showing a ticket can expect a fine.

Paying for parking on the north side of our main street would hurt of course, but it would be in a good cause; increased revenue for the council with simply-regulated pay and display which I think most right-minded locals would cheerfully support.

It is important to us, and to the deserving people of Pembroke, that we should be able to continue stopping off and we should be grateful for your help.

WILLIAM SLYFIELD

Pembroke