Reference the parking episode in Bude reported in the 'Post' of January 15. Reading same, two things come to mind that greatly concerned me, that having paid the fine as any good citizen should he has forfeited the right of any appeal or redress. Surely it should be made mandatory that if a person states he is to appeal, that the officer producing the ticket, should be duty bound to stress that the appeal must be made before paying the fine.

Secondly I am very concerned with the last paragraph: "There is clear evidence of inconsistency in the interpretation and the application of the law as it stands." Is this what we are to expect with the formation of the Unitary Authority?

The question arises, are the officers of the authority above the law or are the officers exceeding their duties? If the law is clearly broken should it be the right of the officers (even managers) to decide if it be a trivial matter to proceed, and decide that it is not appropriate to spend public monies to process?

I have met this situation in other directions, and have even offered to cover immediate costs, but this was found to be not acceptable.

Bude.