SO SOUTHAMPTON Labour administration decided not to offer free parking in the city to try and boost the economy pre and post Christmas.

I'm sure local traders will be well impressed with that decision.

Facing unprecedented losses owing to Covid 19 restrictions, I would have thought they would have welcomed the idea put forward by the Conservatives to bring more people to the city.

Perhaps offering free parking until spring was going a little too far however.

I suspect that the real reason was that the thought of not having parking fees to pop into the treasury coffers with the Green Transport Recovery Plan used as a smokescreen.

We are all facing difficult times at the moment but Christmas time is the most important period for businesses, to carry them through the lean months early in the New Year, and for a city that professes to support commerce and has built it`s reputation around it, this council decision seems extremely unwarranted.

Richard A Jacob

Southampton